Counting Stars
by SilverLuckCharm
Summary: Avery Montgomery tried to live her life without Dean Stavros. But when he comes back to town to help Spencer, she's in a predicament. When A texts comes back and threaten her from every corner. And Dean's insistence on the truth. She doesn't know what to do anymore. Dean/Oc Warning: M rated scenes
1. Chapter 1

Warning M rated scene. If you don't like that stuff, skip the Italics.

Chapter one.

"Hey, Spence?" Avery Montgomery unlocked the back door of the Hastings's house, she didn't look up as she entered, her fingers typed quickly on her phone. "I got your that book you asked for-have you see Aria? I can't find her anywhere-" She glanced up, her whole body froze.

She suddenly felt as she drenched in a bucket of icy cold water. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Avery, good, you're here." Veronica Hastings said, she smiled at the twenty one years old girl. "This is Dean Stavros, he's a drug and alcohol abuse counselor. Dean's here to help Spencer."

"I know who he is." Avery bit her tongue from snapping at the older women. Dean smirked at her, straightening in his seat.

"It's been a while, Avery." Dean's voice brought shivers down to her spine. It's been six months since they last saw each, right when she broke up with him.

"Not long enough." She said as coldly as she can in her shockened state.

"Mom," Spencer came down the stairs, cutting their conversation. "Have you seen my car keys? I want to go to school early and catch up on any assignments I might have missed." She looked up, noticing her mother, Avery and a strange guy standing.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to interrupt." She said.

"Honey, this is Dean Stavros. He's going to be staying with us for a while." Veronica told her daughter. Avery clenched her jaw at that. Dean glanced at her from the corner of his brown eyes before returning his gaze to Spencer.

"Hi," Spencer greeted, she adjusted the straps of her bag. "Avery, what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Aria." Avery replied. "Thought I'll check here first." Spencer shook her head in response, denying Aria was here.

"Sweetheart, you're not going back to school just yet." Veronica said. "We've already taken your car keys, and I'll need your cell phone and your laptop as well."

"What? Why?" Spencer asked. Avery was shocked, she didn't think Spencer's parents will go to such extreme measure for their daughter's drug issue.

"There will be no phone calls of any kind. No internet. No friends." Ms. Hastings listed the rules. "We'll be sure to get your assignments from school."

"And how do you expect me to turn them in? Carrier pigeon?" Avery snorted under her breath at that, making Veronica send a glare her way.

The older women breathed before continuing. "You'll earn your privileges back over time as long as you follow Dean's program."

"The doctor said I was fine to go back to school, as long as I agreed to outpatient counseling." Spencer protested. "Could you please excuse us? I need to talk to my mom." She said to Dean.

"Actually," Dean cut in, getting up. "I don't think I can.". Avery rolled her eyes, he was about to give _the_ _speech_.

"Spencer, I'm a drug and alcohol abuse counselor," Spencer crossed her arms, smiling in disbelief. "Your parents brought me here to help you. I'm going to be camped out in the barn, on call-twenty four seven to-"

"So you're basically a babysitter" Spencer said, she turned to Vernica "Do you and dad distrust me _this much_?"

"Quite frankly, given this latest episode-yes." Ms. Hastings spoke.

"I understand you may be feeling ambushed-"

"Excuse me," Spencer said rudely, making Avery smile. "How long am I supposed to stay under guard?" She asked her mother.

"I have to apologise for my daughter." Veronica told Dean. Avery suddenly felt like she was intruding on a private manner, she quietly moved backwards until she almost reached the door.

"Oh, as long as you're handing them out. I'd love an apology from you." Spencer said.

"Your father and I thought the first time would be the last. Since you've relapsed-"

"I'd hardly call that a relapse!" Spencer moved forward.

"Spencer," Dean stood in front of her, "I'll bet your mom would be a whole lot more open to hearing you out if you hand over your electronics. Show you're willing to cooperate."

Spencer looked hard between Dean and her mother before moving her eyes to Avery, who was discreetly trying to turn the doorknob. "Avery!" She tried a last resort. Avery swore under her breath, making all eyes turn to her, including Dean's.

"Sorry kid, I'm on your side but you're underage, I can't help you." Avery said, cringing slightly at Spencer's expression. "I know he sounds obnoxious." She gestured to Dean. "And he is,"

"Is there a point Avery?" Veronica said sharply.

"Umm, no. Look I gotta run." Avery one more time to flee but Spencer's voice stopped her.

"Can you stay?" The teenager said. "I need at least one person who isn't trying to force me to do anything."

"No friends." Veronica said sternly.

"Technically, I'm not a friend. I'm her friend's sister." Avery said. Spencer sighed but took what she got and removed her bag from her shoulder, getting out her laptop and handing it to Dean's awaiting hand.

"Can I please just call Toby?" She asked in a pleading and defeated tone. "I tried him last night and he hasn't called me back yet."

"I had a conversation with Toby and he understands you'll be hard to reach for the time being." Veronica replied.

"It'll give us all a chance to focus." Dean said. Avery moved to stand behind Spencer, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, showing she was here for her as much as she can. Spencer leaned into the comforting touch and gave the counselor her phone. "Great." She mumbled. "Where do we start?"

Dean moved to put her laptop and phone on the counter and got out a small cup for Spencer to pee in, he cleared his throat and held it for her to take. Spencer grinned sarcastically and took it from him "Fantastic. I will go upstairs and fill this with my dignity." She cast one last look to Avery before going up the stairs.

"Ms. Hastings, can I have a moment alone with Avery?" Dean asked.

"No." Avery refused immediately.

"Do you two know each other?" Veronica questioned. Avery denied at the same time Dean said yes. Ms. Hastings nodded before leaving the room and called out "Call me if you need anything."

Avery crossed her arms stubbornly, avoiding Dean's eyes, the same eyes she was in love with for four years.

"Ms. Hastings called me," Dean started the conversation. "She said one of her friends recommended me, said I helped her daughter. Can you figure out who that was?"

"My mom." Avery muttered quietly, silently making a note to have a talk with her mother about boundaries, you're not supposed to call your daughter's ex boyfriends to help your other daughter's friends. "So what do you want with me?"

"I want the truth." Dean said, Avery's eyes widened before she can stop herself.

"Truth about what?" She asked shakingly.

"You know what." He stepped closer to her. tilting his head to the side. She remembered a time whenever he did that, she'd kiss him, and he'd laugh and pick her up to wrap her legs around his waist since she was much shorter than him.

"We're talking about different things then." Avery said, trying to act bored

"Oh, there's other things you lied about too?" She closed her eyes at that, she never wanted to hurt him. It was all A, A was making her do this, the words she said weren't hers, but she might as well have been from the look on his face when she was breaking up with him.

"I mean the real reason why you broke up with me." Dean told her, taking another step towards her.

"I told you before." She answered.

"That there was someone else? Yeah, I checked." He said. "Your mother called me a while back, asking me what happened to make you lock yourself in your room for weeks and refused to talk with anyone." He breathed after that, before adding in a softer voice, "Avery, I know you haven't been seeing someone else."

"What do you want me to say?" She couldn't step the tears from gathering in her eyes. "Anything I tell you isn't going to convince you. So what's the reason for trying again?"

"I'll believe you when you tell me the real reason." Dean was almost standing in front of her, face to face.

"Dean, I-" Avery sighed in relief when Spencer came down the stairs, with a disgusted expression, she held the full cup away from her as possible.

"What did you want to bring me?" She asked Avery, thrusting the cup towards Dean without looking at him, she kept her attention full on the girl she considered her big sister and sometimes her role model.

"Oh," Avery reached in her messenger bag and got out the book. " _The beautiful and The Damned_. I used to read Fitzgerald a lot when I-" She glanced self-consciously at Dean. "-was recovering from my problems and it helped me a lot."

"Thanks." Spencer took the book, turning the cover. "What now?" She asked Dean, who was watching Avery fiddle with her bag. "You look familiar, did I met you before?"

"You probably recognized him from nightmares. He tends to bring those a lot." Avery told her, her tone dry.

"Did you guys date?" Spencer caught on quickly. Dean took the lead and nodded, confirming the fact. The teen recalled a time when Aria would complain about her sister hung up on her boyfriend. Alison used to call him hot.

"Okay. I'm leaving." Avery declared, waving her hands up and ignoring the two other individual in the room as she walked to the door

"Can you come back tomorrow?" Spencer called for her.

Avery thought for a second before nodding and called goodbye to her. She breathed deeply as soon she stepped outside, she leaned her hand against the wall, memories flashing through her mind.

 _Avery laughed as Dean picked her up, apparently tired with their slow pace going up the stairs of his apartment building. He connected their lips together deeply, his tongue forcing its way inside her mouth. They reached his floor, going backwards to his door. Dean gently let her down to search his pockets for the keys, his hand was unsteady as Avery decided this was the perfect moment for her to try unbuckling his belt. Her groaned in frustration before he found it and turning it in the keyhole. She slammed him against the wall besides the door, kissing him roughly and eagerly._

" _Down, kitten." Dean mumbled against her lips, this time he kissed her slow and passionately. Their bodies were in sync with each other, her hands tugged on his t-shirt, making him pull away for a moment to remove it and began working on unbuttoning her shirt, he ripped it away when it took too much time._

" _And you're telling me to calm down?" Avery breathed. She kicked off her flat shoes while he did the same to his sneakers. Dean slid his hand in her skirt without warning, making her gasp in shock and pleasure. His fingers began to rub the whole length between her legs while his lips came back to kiss her, she moaned in his mouth, feeling the smirk on his face._

" _More." She tried to rub their hips together to get any sort of friction, but he had a tight hold on her whole body. He guided her towards his bed, his hands completely leaving her skin. She whimpered at the loss._

" _Shhh," Dean soothed her. He stood at the edge of the bed, watching her darkened eyes for a moment for reaching for his jeans and kicking them off him, leaving him in his boxers only. He crawled in the bed, holding his body on top of hers by putting his weight on his elbows. He tugged her skirt to throw it aside. Dean leaned back, she was under his body, between his knees, totally and utterly under his control. He liked that._

 _Avery backed to the headboard, Dean's bed was small, meant for one person but she was suddenly grateful for the closeness it allowed her to him. She put her hands behind her back to unclasp her royal blue bra-only to be stopped by his hand._

" _Let me take care of you." He whispered. "I love you, you know that. right?"_

" _I love you too." Avery said, she loved the way he was looking at her-like she was the only thing he ever saw._

 _Dean smiled widely and sat up on his knees. He was determined to watch her reaction to his touch. His finger played with the hem of her panties, her skin was heated making him more and more turned on, but he wanted to make this about her. He pressed lightly on her clit from outside her underwear, driving her crazy. Her back arched as she closed her and buckled upwards, he pushed her back, shushing her softly. He applied more pressure, feeling the moist of her arousal._

" _Dean." She uttered his name, her eyes tightly shut._

" _Open your eyes, beautiful." He whispered. "Open them and I'll give you what you want."_

 _Avery opened her clouded eyes, making him smile and lay and place a kiss on her forehead. His finger suddenly entered her, still protected by the thin material of her panties. The fabric brushed in her, making her moan louder. He kissed her to keep her quiet, he had neighbors who could hear them. He used his other fingers to rub a different area of her skin. She almost screamed at the pleasant sensation. Dean grinned, content he had discovered a new way to make her wither and squirm, her body still managed to surprise him after a few years of being together._

 _He took off her panties, sticking two fingers at once and removing them to put them back again, speeding up his pace. He continued like this until four his fingers were inside her, pumping quickly. When he felt she was nearing the edge, he stilled his fingers and took them out, quieting her whine with his lips. He positioned himself so his face was at her entrance, his tongue took a bold lick at her, making her arch her back. He let her this time move as she want. His tongue continued to do tricks on her, he would go rush his pace until she almost came and then stop to repeat his treatment._

 _Avery buried her head in his pillow, biting into it. She muffled her scream when she climaxed, Dean licked her cum until there was none left. She almost came another time by the time he finished cleaning her._

" _Ready?" He asked her, his control clearly running thin._

" _Hell yes."_

Avery snapped out of her fantasy by the beeping of a text. A sense of dread filled her stomach, her hand shook as she unlocked her phone. She relaxed when she saw it was a text from her mom. She hadn't got an A message since she broke up with Dean. Part of her was glad, the other part felt like she would run through hell and back for their relationship to work again.

 **So..**

 **Yeah, this is it. I'm getting back to writing. I'm rewriting my stories and gonna publish them again when they are better. This story is a Dean/Oc. I feel like they haven't given much time on the show, and since I love Nathaniel Buzolic, I decided to write a story about him.**

 **I'm also working on a Kol Mikaelson/Oc too, I already have four chapter ready but I'm waiting to finish the fifth to publish.**

 **And to make things clear from the beginning. Avery is Aria's older sister, she's the oldest of her siblings, the rest will be revealed as the story continues. Thanks for reading. I adore reviews but please don't leave hate comments.**

 **The next chapter is coming up as soon as I can.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the reviews/favorites/follows. They really inspired me. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Two

Dean poured Spencer a cup of green substance, making her smell it, her nose scrunched in disgust.

"Drinking a glass of salad is supposed to give me my life back?" She asked him.

"Your body needs the nutrition." Dean said, a bit of amusement in his eyes. "You'll feel stronger. You'll think clear. You'll sleep better."

"I sleep just fine." Spencer said. She thought Avery was right, he was obnoxious. And the fact she knew him made her suspicious.

"I heard you doing laundry in two in the morning." He said.

"My sheets were dirty. What you want to analyze those too?" She spoke.

"I just thought it was unusual." Dean leaned on the counter. He thought of how Avery used to wake up in the oddest hours at night and do whatever crazy thing her mind came up with. He would sometimes wake up with her and they would stay up until the morning laughing and watching TV. _You have to stop thinking about her._ He thought.

"I think it's _unusual_ how you and Avery know each other." Spencer said, making him glance at her in surprise.

"How much did she tell you about us?" He asked her.

Spencer thought for a second. "Absolutely nothing. Avery never dates" He felt disappointed that she didn't talk about him but he realised Spencer was her sister's friend, not hers. So it's less likely for her to know Avery's secrets.

"We used to date." He didn't elaborate more that. Instead he chose to change the subject. "You know, with ADHD meds, people tend to sleep a lot during withdrawal. And you're definitely irritable," Spencer rolled her eyes at that. "Any flu like symptoms?"

She looked down at her crossed arms. "Not anymore."

Dean put his hand on his chin "What about nightmares?" He thought of the times Avery would wake him from his sleep, saying he was tossing and turning.

Spencer spoke hesitantly. "Umm, what about hallucinations?"

"Maybe," He answered her, noticing the look on her face. "Nothing to worry about. It's just your body and mind getting reaquainted. You take drugs away and things come up."

"What kind of things?" Spencer remembered her Ali flashback earlier.

Dean straighten "Things you've forgotten. Things you've suppressed. Things you need to deal with." Spencer leaned on the counter with her elbows, dropping her head in her hands.

"When I was first on recovery, a healthy diet and exercise really worked for me." _And Avery_. "It took the edge off. It's worth the try." He said.

Spencer had her concentration on the phone sitting innocently on the counter, she nodded her head, hoping her hair covered her face enough.

"Ever do yoga?"

"No, not usually. I don't really excel in athletics unless there was somebody to beat." Spencer replied.

"I like to avoid competition. Now, I think that drive may have triggered your abuse in the first place." He said.

"But kicking your ass at tennis might be very therapeutic." Spencer said, a small hint of smile on her face. Dean glanced down in amusement.

"Yeah, I get the feeling you'll like to kick my ass period." He said. "But I'm in the barn until your parents and your doctor say otherwise. So get motivated." He moved to pick up the blender. "We got a lot to cover today."

Avery stared at the coffee mug in front of her. She had changed into her pajamas early, wearing a thin tank top and shorts, her dark hair was tied up in a messy bun over her head. She had officially given in to reality. Dean was here and he was more likely determined to get the truth out of her. And once he did, he wouldn't leave, she knew him enough to know that.

She lived in a one bedroom apartment away from her parents' home, she liked the solitude and independence the place offered her. Plus rent wasn't that bad so she could afford it. After Spencer's, she went straight home and showered, trying to forget the current present.

The sound of knocking made her jump, she laid the full mug on the small table in her kitchen. She had a feeling of who was on the other side of the door. She opened the door, Dean stood, in all his handsome glory, the scruff on his face still was the same. When she had first met him, he didn't have it, but then in the last year they spent together he grew it out, and she found out she liked guys with scruffs.

"Spencer asked me to give you this." He held a book in his hands. Avery didn't recognize the title, nor did she remember asking for it.

"Thanks." She couldn't help herself from the automatic answer. "I thought she couldn't do anything but breathe these days."

"She's stubborn." Dean said. "Besides, she's smart, but she must be getting desperate to go to such extreme ways to contact her friends." He opened the book and pointed out a page on the middle, a note stapled onto it.

"That's book abuse." Avery looked at the ruined page.

"But-" He said, looking in her eye. "I'll allow it under one condition."

"What?" She asked, thinking she probably was the only person outside Spencer's family and Dean she had contact to. She must have wanted to give this to her friends.

"Invite me in." Dean said, smiling a bit. Avery sighed but thought of her sister and left the door open, going back inside the apartment. She heard the door close and Dean's familiar footsteps following her. "Would you like some coffee or anything?" She asked, heading towards the kitchen and picking up her mug to take a sip from it, suddenly feeling like she needs to occupy herself.

"Sure." She gestured for him to sit on the other seat at the table. She made his coffee the same way she remembered he liked it.

"How did you get this place?" Dean looked around him, it seemed fairly decent.

"I sell stuff." She replied. "Like paintings or photos. It's good pay." She his coffee on the table in front of him. He took a small, careful sip, she almost snorted at how he thought she might have poisoned it it or something.

"Can I see one?" He asked. Avery tensed, she never showed her paintings to anyone, not her family, not her friends, only the people who bought it.

"Why are you like this?" She blurted. He furrowed his brows, quite adorably if she allowed herself to think so.

"Like what?" He said.

"You're treating me nicely." Avery said. "You're not supposed to do that. I don't deserve it."

"Stop acting like this." Dean said, almost snapping.

"Acting like what?" She asked, placing her half full mug in the sink so she had her back turned to him and he wouldn't see her expression.

"I know when you're lying Avery." Dean got up from the chair, coming to stand behind her.

 _No you don't._ She thought. If he truly did then he would've seen the lie in her eyes when she ended things with him, or he would've heard her break down crying after she left his apartment.

 _Avery wiped her tears with her sleeve, hoping that he wouldn't notice her red eyes. She knocked on the door, something she never did. She usually barged in, making herself at home even if Dean wasn't inside._

 _He opened the door, clearly surprised at the formal gesture. "Avery, why did-"_

" _I need to talk to you." She said quickly, getting the words out. Dean wiped his hands on his jeans, a sign he was cooking._

" _Let's talk inside, I'm making dinner, though it's not finished." He said, a happy glint in his eyes that made her heart break even more. He noticed the look on her face, his expression falling to concern._

" _Are you okay?" He asked her, his fingers touched her face to wipe a stray tear. She jerked herself a step back from him._

" _I can't do this anymore." Avery whispered, she didn't know what to say. The text's instructions were to break up with him, break his heart. She figured she could with the most said phrase._

" _Do what?" Dean questioned, though he had a knowing look in his eyes. "If you just come in-"_

" _I can't," She closed her eyes to keep him from seeing the tears, her hands shook. "I can't because I'm breaking up with you." If it was possible, her heart would've crushed itself to pieces and choked her._

" _W-why?" He said, his posture tense._

" _It's not working for me." Avery said._

" _It was working for you yesterday." Dean said, his voice shook a little but he kept it steady, unlike her. She didn't say anything, only waited for a few moments before forcing her feet to walk away._

" _You're not going to give me the 'it's not you, it's me' speech?" He snapped. She didn't turn her head to face him, though she wanted to, more than anything in her life. If she turned around and looked him in the eyes, she would run back to his arms, and apologize for everything she said._

" _Tell me something at least." He said in a quieter voice. "Tell me you're not in love with me. And I'll let you go."_

" _I-i'm not." She turned and ran before he could anything else, she heard a door slam violently and a loud swore followed by something breaking. Avery sank to the floor, her back against the wall, the rug scraped her bare skin that wasn't covered by her jean shorts. She wrapped her arms around her knees, bringing them closer and broke down in tears, her chest heaved as she sobbed. He would never forgive her. They were the reason for each other's existence, they helped one another to get off drugs and start being sober. He kept her secret, and not once did he complain about it._

Avery closed her eyes tightly, she couldn't breathe when he was standing this close to her. When she told him she didn't love him-every word got stuck in her throat.

"You wanted to see that painting-" She turned her head to face him-only for her words to die as his lips connected with hers, they felt so soft and familiar, and just lovely. She got pulled into the kiss, losing herself quickly. It wasn't a deep kiss, it was a reminder, he was trying to get her to remember what was between them. She knew, she remembered every second of her day.

"Tell me you felt it too." He whispered against her lips when he pulled back. Avery locked into his eyes before her gaze dropped to the floor, she stepped away from him without saying anything. She cleared her throat and left him to walk towards the small hallway. Dean followed her, a protest on his tongue. She opened the door to the storage closet. It was stacked with shelves, meant to be for supplies but she filled it with paintings, from head to toe, every shelf in the small space had paintings on it. And the places that were empty on the wall had been occupied by hanged canvas.

"The ones on the wall were the most difficult to make but turned out the best." Avery told Dean. "The farthest to wall all the oldest and these here-" She lightly touched the highest shelf, the closet had a small window high in the wall, so she put freshly made paintings there to dry. "-are the newest."

"Where's the ones you sell?" Dean asked her, he looked fascinated with them, stopping at almost every one to check. She turned to the left wall, and gestured to the highest shelf. While doing so, the strap on her top loosed a little, falling to her shoulder.

"What's that?" Dean said sharply, his hands caught her elbow tight, but not enough to bruise. Avery had been afraid anyone would see it, the only ones who knew about it were Alison and the girls.

"Just a scar, Dean." She shrugged, trying to act careless though she was worried about his reaction.

"It wasn't there last time I saw you." He inspected the scar, his voice was angry but his touch was gently when his fingers traced the mark on her shoulder blade.

"How did you get it?"

"Drop it, Dean." She shrugged her shoulder from his hold and adjusted her shirt, she only wore revealing clothes at home, and nobody came to visit her except for Aria and her friends, and her parents.

"I'm not going to drop it." He snapped, touching the welted skin lightly before withdrawing his hand.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt." She said softly. Avery heard him breathe and remove her strap again, goosebumps appeared on her skin at his touch. Dean bent down to lay a kiss on the scar, her whole body went on overdrive, everything felt hypersensitive to her.

"We can't do this." She whispered. He pulled back slowly and they stood again face to face.

"Why?" Dean tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"We just can't." She stepped away from him, her breathing shallow. "You should go."

Dean nodded, before walking and headed towards the front door. Avery ran behind him, catching him at the door. "Dean," She called, making him stop.

"I never wanted to let you go."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 **You're walking on thin ice. Don't slip**

 **-A**

Avery stared at the text, the text had came when she was in an art course when her phone beeped, and she had let her guard down when yesterday passed and A didn't contact her even though Dean came in her apartment. In surprise, she had dropped a whole can of black paint on herself, the teacher instructed her to clean up. So here she was, in the bathroom, leaning on the sink, sick to her stomach and covered in paint.

She jumped when her phone rang. Shakily, she pressed answer button. "Hello?"

" _Avery,_ " Spencer's voice carried through the phone. " _Can you come over? Dean's finally an afternoon off and I need some company._ "

The brunette thought it over for a few moments. " _Avery?"_ Spencer called.

"Yeah, sure. I'll come." She will not let someone control her life not someone who didn't even show their face. She hung up with the teen, gathering her stuff inside her messenger bag from where they scattered on the counter besides the sink. She declared her shirt officially ruined and took it off, replacing it with a thin dip dyed camisole over her skinny light blue jeans.

She took her car, not able to help herself from glancing continuously at the side mirror to see if anybody was following her. She parked and went inside the Hastings home, Spencer wasn't in the living room, though Dean was.

"What are you doing?" She asked before she could control the words. Dean looked up from the vegetables he was chopping.

"Making lunch." He answered, going back to slicing.

"I'm here for Spencer. Is she up in her bedroom?" Avery said. Dean nodded in response. She shuffled her feet awkwardly towards the stairs.

"I can make more for you." Dean called. The text kept running through her head. _**You're walking on thin ice**_ **.**

"We'll see." And with that, she went up the stairs, heading to Spencer's room. The teenager was sitting on the bed, staring up to the ceiling.

"Contemplating plans to conquer the world?" Avery leaned against the doorway. Spencer shot up, a relieved smile on her face. To the older girl's surprise, Spencer hugged her quickly before moving back and keeping her hands to the sides.

"Let me guess." Avery entered the room completely, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards. "Need another company other than Dean's?"

"Desperately." Spencer groaned a little. She gestured for Avery to sit anywhere she like and went back to sit on the edge of her bed. Avery took a seat on the desk's chair.

"So what do wanna do?" Avery asked.

"I want to ask you something." Spencer's tone was cautioned. "About Dean." She could see the Avery's posture tense but she nodded nevertheless. "You two were dating, for how long?"

"Four years." Avery said softly. "I met him when I was sixteen and he was eighteen, we only broke up last year."

"That's why you disappeared in Philly all those years." Spencer realized. "You were with him."

Avery nodded. "I came back a week after we broke up."

"But why did you do it?" Spencer asked.

"Spencer," Avery sighed. "It's complicated."

"Come on, give me something." Spencer said, "This is the closest thing I'll get to gossip."

"I thought you didn't like gossip." Avery said. Spencer gave a look. Luckily, or maybe not, a knock on the door ended their conversation. Dean pointed towards downstairs. "Food's ready."

"I bet it's rabbit food again." Spencer muttered as she walked past him., leaving Avery and Dean standing alone in her room.

"Don't let her get to you." She didn't know why she felt like she had say something.

"It's fine." Dean shrugged. "I don't take it personally. Someone with mood swings taught me that."

She scowled, regretting she tried to help him and walked past him. Avery saw the meal he made, they used to make it together, joking around the kitchen and throwing small pieces of vegetables at each other. Unlike her sister, she wasn't a vegetarian. She still struggled with her previous issues, so she tended to eat a lot of food and exercise a lot to burn off the edge. She used to jog at night but then she began to flinch at every sound she heard and started jogging in the morning. When she and Dean were trying to stay off drugs, they would do everything together, she would help him, and he would help her, stopping or distracting each other whenever they craved.

"Why do you have paint on your jeans?" Spencer asked her. She glanced down to see black spots on her, she was used to smearing paint all over herself and clothes, but she wore beat up shirts and shorts when she drew.

"Accident at art, spilled the whole can on my shirt too." Avery answered, feeling a bit sad since she liked that shirt. "Goodness knows I have enough clothes ruined by paint."

"It looks cool," Spencer said. "Gives off an artistic vibe." She looked back at Dean, who was silent, he was watching Avery. _Something is going on between them, if they meant to or not_. She thought. "I have a question."

"Your questions are trouble, Spencer." Avery commented, smiling to show it wasn't a big deal.

"Earlier, you said reading books helped you during recovery of your problems." Spencer said evenly. "You never said what problems."

Avery exchanged a glance with Dean without meaning to. The only people who knew of her drug addiction were the both of them and her mom. She got on and off drugs as quietly as she could.

"You know if I tell you, I'm gonna have to tell Aria." Avery said.

"Aria doesn't know?" Spencer asked, her eyebrows raising to her hairline.

"Technically, no one really knows." Dean entered the conversation. _A does_. Avery thought bitterly. "Avery, you don't have to tell anyone if you're not ready." He told her, concern and understanding evident in his eyes.

"No, it's okay. I can help Spencer." She turned to the young girl, bracing herself for the story and its troll on her.

"I used to be addicted to drugs." Avery said, Spencer's eyes widened, but smartly she didn't say anything. "It started when I was fifteen, I got into all sorts of heavy stuff. meth, cocaine, and alcohol. And the people I hung out with, we used to play a game where we would fill coffee cups with whisky or bourbon and drink them at school, so by the end of the day, we were all drunk of our asses. After a year or so, one of my friends, Jenny, overdosed," She noticed Dean moving to stand besides her, shoulder to shoulder, offering comfort. Jenny was her best friend, and she watched her die. "I was there, and I couldn't help her because I came too late."

"I'm sorry, Avery." Spencer apologized, feeling guilty that she wanted to know so much about her. "You don't have to go on."

Avery tried to discreetly wipe her eyes, but she wasn't fooling anyone. "I decided to quit drug and stay sober, I relapsed a few times but I got through it. I went through all sorts of crazy diet and exercise to keep my mind of the addiction. I didn't want for my family to know, I kept it a secret until I was sure I'm good. I got a job and payed for a cheap doctor myself." She took a deep breath. "My mom accidentally picked up the phone when he called and found out. We fought for days, I wanted her to keep it a secret. If dad knew, I would've been sent away to rehab or boarding school. I would've been a terrible example to Aria and Mike. Eventually, she agreed as long as I stayed sober."

"When was that?" Spencer asked quietly.

"When I was sixteen."

"Avery," Spencer sighed, moving over to hug the older girl. Avery hugged her back hesitantly, scenarios of how she was going to tell Aria and her siblings. "Wait." Spencer pulled back, "Where does he come in?" She pointed at Dean.

Avery bit her lip, "Umm, he-"

" _Avery," Jenny groaned in frustration, throwing her head back against the headboard of Avery's bed. "Why are you so difficult?"_

" _I'm not difficult." Avery said, she was sitting on the only chair in her room, her legs crossed under her. "I'm realistic."_

" _No," Jenny said. "You're delusional."_

" _He doesn't like me, Jen." Avery stated, "It's obvious."_

" _I swear, he's like one step away from falling in love with you." Jenny told her, she got off the bed, grabbing a brush from her overnight bag and brushed her blonde hair in front of Avery's full length mirror._

" _Show me proof." Avery challenged. "You can't because there isn't."_

" _I totally can kick your ass if you keep annoying me with your negativity and denial." Jenny said. "I can ask him." She was already reaching for her phone. Avery jumped quickly to stop her, but Jenny held a hand to stop her, the clear sound of a number being dialed made the brunette stop._

" _Jenny?" Dean's voice was confused. "Why are you calling me?"_

" _Dean," Jenny's voice was cheerful. "I'm so glad you picked up." She looked at Avery's horrified face, knowing she was afraid of what she was going to say. "Listen, I gotta ask you a question."_

" _I can't hook you up." Dean said on the other side of the phone. "I don't deal."_

" _I'm not talking about that." Jenny said. "I want to talk about Avery." There was silence on Dean's side which made Jenny call out his name._

" _Why do you want to talk about Avery?"_

" _See," Jenny moved away from Avery and sat at the edge of the bed, the black and white quilt blended in with her black tank top and pale pink skirt. "There's this guy." She lied easily. "He wants asked her out, but he came to me first because he wanted to know if she was going to reject him or not."_

" _What does this have to do with me?" Dean asked, his voice strange._

" _-and he's really hot, like super attractive with a hot bod and gorgeous eyes." Jenny's words made Avery face palm, she was itching to smack the phone out of Jenny's hands. "I honestly can't see why she wouldn't agree, I mean, it's obvious as hell that she's into him but is in denial."_

" _Jenny," Avery hissed quietly. "Stop talking."_

" _-So," Jenny ignored her, a wry smile on her pale face. "What do you think?" Dean didn't say anything._

" _Look, I'm just looking out for you, for the both of you. I wanted to run it by you first before Avery makes a decision. Meet us at the old swing set at the park in half and hour." Jenny hung up before he could refuse._

" _Jennifer Forbes," Avery said through gritted teeth. "You're out of your goddamn mind."_

" _Doesn't matter." Jenny jumped on her feet, "Come on, let's get you dressed in a less hideous outfit. You look like a hobo." She carelessly opened Avery's closet, flinging clothes she doesn't like to the ground, after a few minutes, she threw one of the dresses her mother bought her in hope she'll grow out of her band t-shirt and black outfits._

" _If you're making me do this. I'll wear what I want." Avery reached into her closet and pulled out one of her band t-shirt-she didn't even look at it before she put it on, and grabbed jeans shorts. She can sense Jenny's disapproval burning at the back of her neck as she put on a black pair of boots and laced it up._

" _At least let me do your hair." Jenny bargained. Avery sighed but complied, letting the girl have her fun. She pinned her bangs away from her face and quickly brushed the rest of it so it became wavy. "Why is your hair so awkward? I can't do anything with it. It's not short, it's not long." Jenny smiled, showing she was kidding. "Who the hell are you?"_

" _Someone with gorgeous hair." Avery flipped her hair to side dramatically, making Jenny squeal and brush her hair again._

" _You're like a kid." Jenny grumbled. "A small, mind not fully grown child."_

" _You know you love me."_

Avery remembered that night clearly. Jenny dragged her to the car and drove her to the park to drop her off and wait to check that she wasn't going to run off. Dean was already there, waiting for her, or them. It wasn't hard to realise he wasn't sure what to expect. For once, they were both sober and sat on one of the benches in the park and talked. Just talked all night. He offered to walk her home since Jenny had turned off her phone and wasn't picking up.

"I gotta run." Avery dropped her fork down to the plate with a clunk, she grabbed her bag and sling it over her shoulder.

"You didn't finish your food." Dean said. Avery shook her head.

"I'm not hungry anymore". Avery said. "And I can't come back tomorrow."

"Why?" Spencer asked, getting up on her feet.

"I have classes all day. Maybe I'll see you the day after." She opened the door hastily, letting it shut behind her without looking.

Spencer looked at Dean, a glare on her face. Dean met her gaze, shrugging indifferently as he could. She stared at him until a couple minutes later, he gave up. "Alright, I'm going." He grabbed his keys and phone and went out of the door as quickly as Avery did. Spencer noticed something on the floor near the door. She got up, walked softly and bent down to pick it up. Avery's phone, black and shiny. She unlocked it, curiosity overpowering her. It didn't have a password. There was one message still opened on the screen. _**You're walking on thin ice. Don't slip. -A**_

She stared at the text numb and in shock. They were all getting A texts, they never knew Aria's older sister got them too, never even thought of the possibility. She scrolled down to all A messages. It went back for a couple years. All about threatening to tell her family about her drugs issue. Jenny, Dean, Mike and Aria. This had been going on before them for a long time. She quickly closed the messages, opening the contact list and dialling the first number that came. Hanna's.

Hanna picked up fairly quickly. " _Avery?_ "

"Hanna, listen, It's Spencer-"

" _You stole Avery's phone? She's going to be pissed._ " Hanna said.

"A has been threatening Avery before us. She's got like a fifty text or so." Spencer rushed the words impulsively.

" _Hold on for a minute."_ Hanna told her, she heard shuffling and Emily's voice came on the other side.

" _Avery too?_ " Emily asked.

"Yes, you gotta find her." Spencer said. "Tell her we're getting those too, she's not the only one."

" _When's the first text?_ " Hanna questioned. Spencer mumbled 'a second' and went back to the text messages, she scrolled until she reached the very first one.

"About the time Alison started getting texts." She answered. "Look, she ran off, Dean's chasing after her."

" _Who's Dean?_ " Hanna said confusedly.

"He's my counselor and Avery's ex. Where are you guys?"

" _We're at the Brew._ " Hanna replied. " _Wait, I think I see her._ "

Avery pulled her car in front of the Brew, she leaned her head against the steering wheel for a moment, before getting her courage together and got out of the car. She tried to walk confidently for her sake not to draw suspicion. She ordered a large black coffee and just as she grabbed it and turned to walk outside, she bumped into someone. Dean stood in front of her, his arms crossed.

"We need to talk." He said.

Avery forced herself to snort. "No, we don't." She tried to walk past him but he grabbed her wrist.

"You're not running away. Not again." Dean shook his head. She yanked her hand from his and slid her body to walk away.

"I'm not running, I'm walking away, there's a difference." She shoved the door open, not aware of the two pairs of eyes following her and Dean. Emily and Hanna stood and watched from the window.

"There isn't with you. Avery, I know you-" Dean followed her out, his words sharp but his voice wasn't raised.

"You know me?" Avery turned around, an angry glint in her eyes. She pointed at herself. "You don't know shit about me."

"I don't know you?" Dean said out loud in disbelief. "Avery, I know you better than I know myself."

"No, no you don't." She grabbed her car's door handle.

"Fine, then tell me how is that I know you're wearing an anklet around your right leg right now?" Dean's words surprised. The anklet was hidden by her combat boots, no one knew she even owned it. "The same anklet I gave you when you woke someday and decided that it was our seventh month and twelve days anniversary." Hanna and Emily perked their ears, hearing everything that was being spoken.

"How about that fact that you like wake in the middle on the night to cook? Or that once every few weeks, you get all the junk food you can get your hands on and watch movie marathons." Dean stepped closer to her, his face so close to hers that she could feel his minty, cool breath on her face. She was frozen in place. She didn't expect him to _actually_ pay interest to her little, useless habits and quirks.

"You used to sneak to over twenty one clubs to watch your favorite bands play. And those were the times you weren't drunk or anything. You have all sorts of coffees and chocolate in your house-" She stopped him from talking by crashing her lips to his. He was confused for a moment before he returned the kiss eagerly. His hands moving to cup her cheek, something she always liked, she knotted her hands in his hair, drawing her body closer to his. One of Dean's hands moved to her waist, wrapping around her thin figure. The intense, slow pulls of their lips made a shiver run down her spine, making Dean smirk against her mouth.

He pulled away first, laying one last butterfly-like kiss and another soft one one her forehead, pressing his lips longer than necessary, not that either one of them complained. Dean pulled her to his arms, his hold tight. Avery buried her head in his shirt, inhaling the scent of him.

"I know you," He whispered softly. "So don't run away from me." He brushed his lips against her ear.

"Okay." Avery said quietly.

"Okay?" Dean asked, loosening his grip lightly to see her face.

She nodded, her fingers coming to wrap themselves around his. "Okay, I'll tell you everything."

 **Thanks for all the favs/follows/reviews! I'm trying to go on a steady update schedule, so see ya every Thursday! And does anyone think I should publish my Kol/Oc story? Let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all Favs/Follows/Reviews! I just finished another chapter for this story! I'm a couple chapters ahead, so every time I finish one, I'll publish another. A chapter for a chapter. But there will definitely be one chapter published every week. Hope you enjoy! And please tell me what you thought.**

Chapter Four

 _Avery sat on the wooden table connected to the bench Dean was sitting on. Her head was thrown back in laughter. "Seriously? She did that?"_

" _I thought you knew. She_ _is_ _your best friend?" Dean asked, leaning on his elbows and gazing up to her._

" _She is." She replied. "I don't keep tabs on her boyfriends anymore. I lost that interest about eight guys ago.."_

" _Well, I don't know who's the victim this time. Jenny or Kyle. They're both a match for each other." He said. Avery hummed, picking up a fry from the plate Dean has gotten them. His eyes followed her movement, a thoughtful expression on his face._

" _Why did you come here tonight?" He questioned._

 _She looked up in startled. "What?"_

" _Tonight, you could've waited for tomorrow at school or came with Jenny."_

 _Avery thought over her answer for a second before replying. "Guess I wanted to try something different."_

" _Is it working for you?" His face came closer to hers._

" _I think so." She breathed. Dean got even closer, his lips almost connecting with hers. She pulled back at the last moment. Biting her lip to keep from grinning too widely. "I don't kiss on the first date."_

 _Dean chuckled, a sound of relief and disappointment at the same time. "So this is a date?"_

" _I like to think that it is." Avery answered honestly. "Come on, go on with your story."_

" _How about-" He picked a couple of fries and threw them in his mouth. "-we talk about anything else?"_

" _Anything?"_

" _Absolutely anything." He said. Avery whistled lightly under her breath. "Let's talk about family."_

" _Anything else." Dean steered the topic, making Avery chuckled._

" _Fine." She mock frowned. "You're so difficult. I can't find any topics. I assume you don't want to talk about shoes, hair or clothes."_

" _Something tells me you don't want to either." He said._

" _How would you know that?" She asked._

" _Because I know you hate dresses and high heels." He replied._

" _Would you prefer me in those?" Avery questioned, her voice softer._

" _I like you the way you are." He confessed. "In band t-shirt and combat boots."_

" _You like me?" She said, her brows raising in surprise._

" _I thought it was obvious." Dean said, trying to shrug it off. "I understand if you don't like me back. It's-" She cut him off by kissing him .A soft, short kiss. She pulled away, a teasing smile on her face._

" _You said you don't kiss on the first date." He breathed._

" _I broke the rules." Avery's forehead was touching his, "Besides, it doesn't matter. This is my first date."_

" _Really?" He asked. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."_

" _It's true." She replied. "Why do you think that?"_

" _Because you're beautiful." Dean said simply. He was surprised to see Avery pull back and laugh, a soft, music like sound to his ears._

" _What did you read before coming here?" She asked, still smiling. "_ _How to woo girls_ _?"_

" _No." He grinned. "_ _How to understand Avery Montgomery_ _."_

" _It's not that hard." She told him._

" _It's pretty challenging." Dean said. "But I don't mind."_

" _Smooth, bro." Avery nodded her head. "Smooth."_

 _Dean sighed, picking up the now empty plastic container of fries and aiming to throw it towards a nearby dumpster. "It's getting late." He glanced at his watch._

" _So?" She asked, "I'll sneak through the window."_

" _No," He got up, holding a hand to help her down from the table. "Come on, I'll walk you home." Avery took his hand gracefully landing on the ground. He didn't let go after they started walking._

Dean parked his car to the side of the road, shutting down the engine and everything.

"What are you doing?" Avery asked, casting him a strange look. They both had gotten into his car and drove away after their confrontation in the Brew. High on excitement, she didn't care about A. She wanted Dean, always have and always will.

He unbuckled his safety belt before leaning towards Avery and kissed her hard on the mouth. His fingers coming to grasp her face gently while doing so. She kissed him back eagerly, laying her hands on his shoulders.

"Okay," Dean breathed once they pulled away. "I _really_ don't want to ruin the moment." He looked at Avery's hazel eyes, with little flecks of gold if you looked closely. "But I have to say this before we get in too deep."

"Dean." She sighed. "I know what you're going to say." She shook her head, reaching for her phone in her pocket but she couldn't find it.

"Would you rather I tell you or that I show you?" She asked, thinking she could tell him to drive back to her apartment and get the shoe box filled with A notes. A few months back, when they split up, she was determined to discover who A was so she printed all the texts, gathered the paper notes and the pictures. Everything A related. She didn't get much progress, but she picked up a few things.

"How about both?" He said. She sighed again.

"You remember Alison Dilaurentis?" Avery began, bracing herself.

"Yeah," Dean nodded, confused. "Yeah, your sister's friend. The one that went missing."

"She," She spoke, "Ali and I were close when she and Aria first became friends. I think she looked up to me for guidance, not that she would ever admit it. But she came to about boyfriend troubles, school troubles, nearly everything. I treated her like she was sister, I wasn't aware that she threatened Aria with her secrets, or that she was doing it to all the girls." She took a deep breath. "She showed me the first A text she got. The next day, I got one." **Don't tell and I won't. -A** "I've been jon drugs that time." it showed a video one of the guys took of all of them smoking. They were all hysterically laughing that day, and clearly it showed they were high.

"Then it didn't stop, more and more texts came, about drugs, my family, _you_." She couldn't read Dean's eyes. "A would hint that stuff that turned out true eventually, about my dad cheating on my mom. One text that came was to tell me to break your heart." Her throat felt like it was closing on her. "Or A would hurt you. It was after Ali went missing, I knew A was capable of hurting people. I waited a few days. And the notes kept coming. That's he/she is getting impatient. And when I finally did it." **Good work. We all know you're great at breaking hearts. -A** "A stopped sending me notes."

Dean's frown deepened, he spoke, his voice calm and cold. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't," Tears were running silently down her face. "I can't even-I'm taking a risk telling you now."

"I would've protected you." He said, she noticed that his hands was fisted tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"I _know_ you would have." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "But who would've protected _you_?"

"Dammit, Avery!" Dean slammed his hands violently on the steering wheel, making the car's horn beep loudly. "This has been going on for years."

"I know it has, Dean." Avery said clearly. "I know." She unbuckled her seat belt, reaching for the door handle. "I can't, I'm sorry." She mumbled. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you." She got out of the car, letting the door shut behind her, she looked around her, she could walk back to her apartment, but it would be a fairly long walk.

"Avery," Dean got out of the car, going after her. "Avery, stop. Okay? I'm sorry." She didn't turn around, instead he walked until he was standing in front of her, she tried to hide her face from his view, so he wouldn't see her crying.

"Hey." He said. "It's-are you crying?" His hands wiped her tears, his touch gentle. "Shh, it's okay." He pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her shoulder tightly. He shushed her as she kept crying, the feelings she hid all those months coming out. The only people who knew about A texts were her and Alison. And Ali was dead.

Avery rested her on his chest, her arms crossed around her chest as if to shield herself from the world and its harm. "I'm sorry." She sniffled.

"No, I'm sorry for the way I reacted." Dean's grip tightened. "I'll still protect you." He muttered, his voice muffled by her hair.

"You're not mad?" Avery pulled back slightly to see his face.

"I am mad." He said. "But not at you." He kissed the remaining of her tears away and leaned down to lay soft kisses on both her cheeks.

She breathed deeply, "Can we go to my apartment?"

Dean nodded, "Sure." He grabbed her hand and led to back to the car, opening the door for her. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride back. When they arrived, she headed straight towards her bedroom, aware that Dean was following her. She stopped in front of the bed. "Can you move it?" She asked Dean quietly. He nodded, they both pushed it until she told him to stop. She grabbed the screwdriver she kept in her nightstand and opened the vent that was previously hidden by the bed.

Avery reached and got out the shoe box and placed it silently on the bed, putting it upside down so the contents of it spilled. "This-this everything I could find on A. The notes, photos of texts and the pictures sent to me." She spread them all across the cover.

"Do you know who it is?" Dean picked up a photo, inspecting it.

"No, I had some people in mind, But they all checked out." She pointed to the list of names she had made. Melissa Hastings, Wren Kingston, Ezra Fitz, Jason Dilaurentis, even for a while she suspected Alison was the one threatening her. Dean abandoned the papers, moving to tug Avery closer to him, she tucked her head under his chin, breathing softly, she couldn't believe she actually told him.

"Who knows?" He asked her.

"Now, besides you and me," She said. "Alison knew." She kissed him once before moving back to pack the stuff back to the box and returning it to the wall.

"I can spend the night." Dean offered. "If you want."

"Yeah," She said. "I'd like that."

"Alright, we got pizzas, burgers, fries." Avery said. looking at all the food laid out on her coffee table. "A _lot_ of soda. What else?"

"Junk food." Dean to the living room, carrying bags and packets of junk food in his arms. Cheese puffs, Doritos, Reese's, M&M's, chips, a can of whipped cream. "You got the movies?" He asked her. She answered by holding up the _Harry Potter_ 's DVD.

He chuckled, "Just like old times." He sat down on the ground, his back leaning against one of the many pillows he and Avery have gathered. They had surrounded themselves with blankets and pillows and pushed the coffee table to the side so they can lay on the ground.

When Avery came to sit down next to him, he tugged her to drop on his lap, making way so she was seated between his legs. He pressed Start before she can protest. She relaxed, resting her head on his chest, sighing when his arms came to wrap around her waist, bringing her impossibly closer to him. She chuckled before remembering the food, without getting off Dean, she leaned and picked up the large pizza box and the nearest burger that had fries in the same container. She took a piece of pineapple pizza and bit into it, groaning at the taste. She sipped on a can of soda while eating.

"Hey," Avery said after a while of watching _Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone._ "I want some of that." She turned her body completely in Dean's lap to face him. She reached into his bag of Doritos and took a couple.

He chuckled, looking at her face. "What?" She asked, smiling a bit.

"Nothing." He said.

"No, tell me." Avery said, before tilting her head to the side and made a mocking expression "Don't I look sexy?"

"You look incredibly sexy." Dean replied, his hand coming to wipe the crumbs on the corner of her mouth, kissing her after.

"I got a question." She said after they pulled away. "Aren't you getting payed to stay by Spencer's side at all times?"

"Yeah." He agreed, his eyes distracted as he played with a strand of her dark hair. At her raised eyebrow, his eyes widened before he glanced at the clock she hung on the wall.

"I'll sneak back in the morning." He said since it was late. "I bet Spencer already went out."

"Go easy on her, will you?" Avery said, adjusting her position to grab another soda and the last piece of pizza. "Think of us when we were in her age."

"That's the exact reason why I'm not." Dean said. "When we were teenagers, we got off drug by ourselves, without anyone else's help. And we got through it."

"Yeah, God, I don't what I would've done if you weren't there to help me." She said.

"We helped each other. Remember the food we used to make, we jogged as many miles as we could in the morning and managed school in the same time?" He spoke.

" _You're co-dependent. It's not right." Ella told her daughter. "Every time you're away from each other, you relapse."_

" _Mom," Avery followed her mother to the kitchen. "It's not like that. I love him, and he loves me."_

" _Maybe that's the problem, Avery." Her mom said. "It's like you can't survive without one another. You should have your own life outside him."_

" _Doing what?" Avery was getting frustrated. "Going to school and getting decent grades? Have friends? A job? I already have all of that. You just don't see that. My life is perfectly fine. I'm happy."_

" _You're addicted to drugs!" Ella lost her temper. "You're both addicts."_

" _I'm_ _ **sober**_ _. When are you going to believe that?" Avery said._

" _When you stop hanging out with the same people you took drugs with." Ella told her._

" _Well, I'm not going to do that." Her phone rang, making her jump in surprise and her mother to narrow her eyes in disapproval._

" _That's him." Ella stated as a fact. Avery nodded, shutting the phone down and turning away from the kitchen and leaving for the front door where Dean was waiting. She opened the door to see him standing with two smoothies in his hands._

" _Thank God." She took one and took a sip without asking what was in it._

" _Hey," He kissed her on the cheek. "Is everything okay? I heard arguing."_

" _It's fine." She shrugged, though it hurt her to know her own mother didn't believe in her. "Mom's getting on my case lately."_

" _Is it because of me?" Dean asked lowly._

 _Avery nodded, unable to lie to him after so much together. "And she doesn't trust me when I tell her I'm sober."_

" _Avery, if I'm separating you from your family-"_

" _No, you're not." She said. "Okay? I'm not letting you. You're the only thing holding me together. Mom will understand eventually." Dean nodded, clearly not convinced with guilt evident in his expression._

" _So guess what?" They were now walking along the road, waiting to finish their smoothies to start jogging, one of the rituals that kept their minds off the edge of withdrawal._

" _What?" Avery bumped her shoulder playfully with his._

" _I got a job." Dean told her._

" _Dean," She stopped walking and threw her arms around him. "That's amazing."_

" _Yeah," He hugged her back, mindless of the drinks in their hands. "It is."_

" _What is it?" She asked, still smiling._

" _I'm training to become a drug and alcohol counselor." He said, a little afraid of her reaction._

" _That's-" Avery searched for the word. "Good."_

" _You really think so?" He asked._

" _You're going to help people who are struggling with their addiction. It's great. You're a good teacher." She said. Dean's face broke into a wide smile, he threw his empty cup to the ground and picked her up, kissing her fiercely._

" _Could you be any less perfect?" He said rhetorically. He kissed her one more time before setting her down._

" _I can't because I'm not." Avery said._

" _You are in my eyes." He said, not surprised when she laughed._

" _I thought we were over the cliche phase." She smiled._

" _If it makes you smile." Dean shrugged, putting his arms around her shoulder. "I'll do anything."_

" _Okay. Stop." Avery laughed, trying to jokingly pull away from him._

" _You're the light in the end of my tunnel." He said. "The moon in-"_

" _Stop!" She was full blown laughing._

" _Avery Grace Montgomery." Dean said, a glint of happiness in his eyes as he watched her laugh. "I love you. And that's not a line or a pickup phrase to get lucky."_

" _Well then, Dean Stavros." Avery said. "You_ _ **are**_ _lucky because I love you too."_

"Yeah, I remember." She told Dean softly, shifting herself so she was straddling him with her legs and facing him. She kissed him hard on the lips, making him drop whatever he was carrying and wrap his arms around her waist before gently easing her off of him so he can get up. He helped her stand before crashing his lips back to hers, he laid her on the couch, straddled her and continued kissing her until they were out of breath, he turned his attention to her neck, brushing his lips softly against her skin, making her shiver. His hands trailed down until they reached her shoulder, right where he scar stood out.

Dean abruptly pulled back. "Dean." She said in a pleading tone.

"You didn't tell me last time." His eyes were serious.

"Because it's not a big deal." She tried to shrug.

"I know it's a big deal." He said. "If it wasn't, you would've told me already."

Avery stood up from his lap, her posture straight and stiff. "If I tell you, will you shut up?" He mimicked closing zipper on his lips.

" _Yeah, I'm on my way." Avery told her mom on the phone. "I'm literally in front of the building-Don't worry, I'll be fine." She had recently got her apartment, and a week later, her mother still wasn't feeling like her daughter was safe._

" _I'll call you tomorrow." Without giving her mom a chance to respond, she hung up and stuffed the phone back in her purse and shuffled for her keys. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed something moving._

 _Avery froze, her whole body rigid as her stomach dropped. All the walk back to her apartment, she felt like she was being watched, she shrugged it off as paranoia from the move. A texts were still rolling every other day, but she had stayed completely off drugs and trouble, A literally didn't have anything to threaten her with. But someone was following her, she was sure._

 _She cleared her throat._ _ **You're acting too paranoid.**_ _She told herself. She jumped when she heard rustling coming from the alley besides the building._ _ **It's probably just some kids playing a prank.**_

" _It's not funny." Avery snapped into thin air. "Seriously, go find someone else to bother." When no one answered her, she stepped into the alley, only to have a hand come from behind her to cover her mouth. Her breathing quickened and she tried to struggle but she felt the person holding moving closer to her, their mouth brushing against her ear._

" _Shh." The figure mockingly soothed. She suddenly felt something cold press on her skin. A pocket knife was glistering in the poor light the street provided. She fought even more, feeling hysterical and panicky. The pressure of the knife became firmer._

 _Avery-in her frenzied state- ripped herself from the person's hold, He/she wasn't prepared for her outburst and loosened their grip a little. The knife swiped against her shoulder as she turned, ignoring the shot of pain, she faced the person-only to be knocked into the wall fiercely. She took a few minutes to clear her head from the dizziness and the fuzziness, she eventually got up, well aware than whoever was there was long gone._

 _She winced as she stood on her feet, her head stung from the hit and her shoulder was flaring up every time she moved. She forced herself to walk out of the alley and onto the street and the public. Her purse was on the ground where it fell when she first entered. She picked it up, debating calling the police or not. What would she even say? She wasn't mugged, the person didn't even try to demand for her bag or money. It-_

 _Her thoughts were cut off by her phone buzzing, dread filled her core as she furiously searched her purse for it. When she finally found it, her head felt dizzy again._

 _ **Next time, it won't be just a scratch.**_

 _ **-A**_


	5. Chapter 5

**I kinda thought it'll be nice to have a chapter about Dean and Avery's relationship before they broke up and when they were younger in their high school life, including Avery's friendships, especially Jenny. So here it it! Hope you enjoy. Tell me what you whole chapter is all flashbacks.**

Chapter Five

" _We missed you last night." Jenny said to Avery as soon as the dark haired teen sat down in the chair in front of her._

" _Sorry." Avery apologized halfheartedly. "Family night."_

" _Family night beats getting high night?" Jenny raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows. She was tapping her pencil on the desk rather rapidly, her gaze unfocused and a bit red if you looked closely._

" _Oh my God you're stoned." Avery laughed quietly. Already the first day of school and her best friend was on her way to failing._

" _Of course I am." Jenny hissed softly. "What do you expect?"_

" _Umm.." Avery pretended to ponder. "Waiting at least for me." At Jenny's confused look, she reached into her bag and got out the thermal cup-filled with bourbon._

" _Oh, Aves." Jenny sighed mockingly. "You naughty, naughty girl." She laughed when Avery took a small sip from the cup, her face normal as if she was drinking coffee, though she could see the slight choking she held back from her throat._

" _You don't get to talk about naughty." Avery took another sip. "I heard about you and Matt." Jenny opened her mouth to speak. "And Finn and-"_

" _Alright. I get it." Jenny said. "But they weren't at the same time." Avery hummed in response, clearly unconvinced._

" _Guys!" Angela, one of their friends waved before sitting in the chair next to Avery. "Did you hear?"_

" _Hear what?" Avery exchanged a glance with Jenny._

" _There's a new guy." Angela informed them excitedly._

 _Avery groaned, dropping her head to her desk. "This is just like every teen movie ever made."_

" _New guy-" Jenny continued for her. "plus girl. Fall in love-"_

" _-beat the impossible-"_

" _And live happily ever after."_

 _Angela huffed, brushing her short flaming red hair out of her face. She was probably on of the prettiest girls in their class. Emerald green eyes and full pink lips and her pale face covered with adorable freckles, she was quite tall as well, gave boys a run for their money. She only dated jocks._

 _And the, Jenny, with her shoulder-length curly blonde hair and light green eyes, and a personality that attracted boys from two towns over. From what Avey gathered the years they had been friend, the blonde prefered bad boys; who eventually break her heart._

 _Avery always felt plain and average in their presence. Her awkward hair, dark brown that reached just past her chin. Her eyes were hazel-and from what her mother says; with flecks of gold. Average height, average personality, average everything._

 _They had a fourth friend: Lori. Lory was the closest to Angela, both of them practically had the same taste in everything, including guys. She was late today, the girls guessed it was because of her current boyfriend, Lance-who didn't by any chance meet her friends' approval._

" _You're so bitter." Angela said. "You're never going to find a guy with that attitude."_

" _Well, the. I guess it's a good thing I'm not looking for one." Avery smiled fakely at her friend. Their conversation stopped when Lori entered the classroom, followed by Lance, both of them laughing._

" _Great." Jenny rolled her eyes. "Here comes the best friend stealer." She said as Lori sat in her usual chair next to Jenny, Lance automatically sitting in front of her._

" _Hey guys." Lori smiled brightly._

" _Lori." Avery greeted, being the only one mature in the group. "Why're so late?"_

 _Lori smiled guiltily and glanced at Lance. "We got carried away." She admitted._

" _Okay!" Jenny suddenly burst. "_ _ **Ew.**_ " _She looked absolutely disgusted, she leaned and grabbed Avery' thermal cup out of her hand and took a large sip, gulping the liquid down._

" _Is that…?" Angela pointed at the cup, Avery nodded in reply. Angela grinned and reached down to her own bag and got out a Starbucks plastic mug, fully covered with a black straw._

" _What do you got?" Angela asked._

" _I snatched a bourbon bottle from my dad last night." Avery whispered so other students wouldn't hear._

" _You're so lucky." Lori told her. "I tried to get to the liquor cabinet a few days ago and my mom caught me."_

" _What did she do?" Jenny questioned._

" _Nothing." Lori answered. "I told her I was getting it for dad. Didn't even think twice about letting me go." Her parents were well on their way to divorce, fighting all the time. She mostly stayed at the other girls' houses._

" _They're still doing that?" Angela said. Lori nodded, her happy facade cracking a bit but went right up when Angela offered her her cup._

" _This year is already up for a bad start." Jenny declared just as the teacher entered the room, a stern expression on his face._

* * *

" _Okay. Okay." Jenny breathed in front of the mirror in the girls' bathroom. "Okay." She applied her dark lipstick. "Okay."_

" _What the hell is wrong with her?" Avery asked as came out of the bathroom stall._

" _She's working up courage to talk to the new guy." Lori informed her as she adjusted her black hair._

" _Never thought I'll see the day when Jenny Forbes turns shy." Angela mocked from her place besides Avery, she too reapplying her makeup._

" _He's cute." Jenny explained simply._

" _Oh guys, I heard Cindy in French earlier." Angela said. "It was absolutely hilarious. She kept going like 'he's so hot he's not even real!'."_

" _The fuck?" Jenny mumbled. "She has a boyfriend."_

" _No, she doesn't." Avery entered the conversation, she hesitated at the attention of the three girls on her. "I saw them fight earlier." She said. "Then I saw Cindy making out with Jamie."_

" _Moving on already?" Jenny said._

" _Look who's talking." Angela put everything back in her bag, she slung it over her shoulder. "I can't make lunch today. Gotta make up for English quiz."_

" _See ya." The girls mumbled goodbyes. They all eventually spilled out of the bathroom one by one. Lori, with the excuse of the meeting up with Lance, Jenny went to the library where she head from one of the girls in the hallway the new guy was studying._

" _Seriously, guys?" Avery asked out loud. She was the only one left in their group. She made her way alone to the cafeteria. Mentally debating who to sit with, there was the guys they hung out with, but she never went to them without Jenny or anyone else. By the time she reached to doors, she had decided to take the food and eat in her car._

 _She bumped into someone, slamming her forehead against a hard surface. "I am so sorry." She apologized softly without looking up. "I wasn't-"_

" _It's fine." She tilted her head up to meet unfamiliar brown eyes. "I was the one absorbed in this." He pointed to the book he had in his hands._

" _A tale of Two Cities." Avery read the title aloud. "A Charles Dickens fan?"_

" _It's my favourite." The guy said. "You?"_

" _Oliver Twist." She answered. "We don't get a lot of Dickens fans around here."_

" _And why is that?" He asked._

" _Because it's a not a required reading." Avery said._

" _Well, I think everyone should at least read one Dickens story in their lives." He said. "I'm Dean by the way."_

" _Avery." She smiled shyly._

* * *

" _Oh." Avery walked between the library shelves. "This." She pointed at a book. "And this." Another book. "And this. Definitely this."_

" _You're almost as obsessed as I." Dean commented, stopping briefly to read to the titles of the books she pointed out._

" _Ha." She said mocked. "That's impossible. You should see my room." Her cheeks turned red when she realized what she said._

" _You should see mine." Dean took a step closer to her, a grin on his face. It faltered when she laughed. "That came out totally wrong."_

" _Yeah." He agreed before clearing his throat. "What about this one?" He reached over her to one of the higher shelves and got a book out._

" _The Death of Virgil." Avery said. "No, I haven't."_

" _Trust me." Dean handed her the book. "It's worth it."_

" _I'll make you a deal." She said. "If I read this, you're going to have to read a book I recommend."_

" _Hit me with your best shot." The school bell rang, making Avery quicken her thought for a book._

" _Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I have the perfect one. Changed my life." She hurried between the aisles searching for it._

" _Almost every reader said that about every book they read." Dean's voice came from behind her._

" _It's true." She leaned forwards on her toes to reach it, she gave it to him, a satisfied grin on her face. "Red Badge of Courage." She announced. He examined the cover for a few moments before holding his hand for her to shake._

" _I'll get back to you in a couple days." He said. "You finish my book and I'll finish yours. Deal?"_

 _She glanced at the awaiting hand, and almost shyly, shook it. "Deal."_

* * *

" _This has got to be like the most stressful day of this year." Jenny groaned, taking a large gulp from the whiskey bottle she stole from her house._

" _We've only been in school for a week." Avery took the bottle from her hands to sipped from it. "What can you possibly complain about?"_

" _Boys." Jenny said in a 'duh' tone. "Someday." She snatched the alcohol back. "Someday, young, little Avery-" She rolled her eyes at that. "You'll find your guy and know what the rest of the world is experiencing."_

" _Yeah." Angela slurred a bit, "You don't you have a boyfriend. Everyone-" She pointed at the general area around her. "Has one."_

" _I don't." Kyle, one of the guys raised his hand up._

" _Kyle." Jenny spat out the name. "God, I fucking hate Kyle. Why are we talking about him?"_

" _He's sitting-" Avery was cut off by Jenny._

" _We're talking about you." She poked her hard in her stomach. Avery turned around and mouthed 'sorry' to Kyle, who shrugged and mouthed back 'it's okay. I hate her too.'. She refrained from smiling at that. Jenny and Kyle were so much alike, and he was about the only guy she hasn't hooked up with in their group, when she had said that, Jenny had said 'yet.' Taking the rejection as a challenge._

" _Am I at the wrong place?" A voice asked. Avery looked up to see-to her surprise: Dean._

" _Dean." She said. "Don't tell me you joined the 'bad crowd.'"_

" _I didn't know you're a part of it." Dean slowly stepped in the large room. They were a their standard hangout place, an abandoned house not far from school. The small house was trashed with their junk and empty liquor bottles lying on the ground._

" _So what?" Avery stood up, feeling liquid courage run through her veins._

" _I like a girl who can handle her liquor." Dean said._

" _This isn't the place to look for girls." She slid past him and took one of the many bottle, without looking at the label, she drank from it. Tequila, she grimaced as it burned her throat as she swallowed._

" _Good. 'cause I'm not looking for one." He grinned and held a hand out. Avery tilted her head to the side, the alcohol delaying her reaction as she realised he wanted the bottle, she wanted it to him, watching his reaction closely as he drank it like water._

" _Is she okay?" He pointed Jenny, who was sitting up against the wall, her arm at an awkward angle as she leaned her head on it._

" _She's fine." Avery waved him off and took back the bottle to take her seat on the floor again. He sat down on the opposite side of her, the wall weren't far from each other, so with his long legs, he easily reached her wall while sitting up._

" _I didn't know you drank." She said as she watched take a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. "And smoked. Anything else you do?"_

 _He got out a lighter and brought the cigarette to his lips, lightning it up and taking a long drag from it. "A lot of things."_

* * *

 _Dean opened the door for Avery as they entered the school, their hands intertwined._

" _Are you sure about this?" Dean murmured softly in her ear. "We could longer if you're not comfortable."_

" _I'm positive." Avery squeezed his hand. They headed to his locker first since it was the nearest, people stared as they walked together; the newest couple in school._

" _This is so weird." She commented as he got his books out. "I never had so much attention on me before."_

" _Why is that?" He asked, closing his locker and taking her hand again._

" _You know the other girls I hang out with; Jenny, Lori and Angela."_

" _Wait, Angela is the.." He tried to remember. "The annoying one."_

 _Avery chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, and Lori is the one with the black hair-"_

" _And that guy breathing down her neck." Dean continued for her._

" _He's almost as overprotective as you." She teased, she hid her yelp when he suddenly threw his arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her forehead._

" _I like to take care of you." He said, she looked to the ground, hiding her blush. "Hey." Dean muttered. "You don't have to be shy around me."_

" _Who says it's just you?" Avery questioned._

 _Dean shrugged. "I've only been in this school for a month. I haven't picked up on everything." She hummed, knowing he was observant even if he didn't mean to, he spent two weeks around her and managed to know things not even Jenny knew about._

" _You think I'm lying." He said. They stopped in front of her locker, noticing Jenny on the other side of the hallway, chatting with Lori._

" _No." Avery denied, getting out her Chemistry textbook and her backpack. "I'm just thinking you're not telling the whole truth." He raised his eyebrows in questioning. "One week .One week and that's all it took you to know almost everything about me."_

" _Well, there's something you didn't pay attention to." He took the books from her. "It's you I noticed, not anyone else."_

" _I'd say creepy, but it's sweet." She said. The bell rung, signaling they had to part for their classes since they were different grades._

" _See ya at lunch?" Avery asked._

" _What's your schedule?" Dean said, she opened her locker wider to show the piece of paper taped to it. "I have free period in the same time you have P.E."_

" _Great." She leaned forwards on her toes to peck him. "Then we'll both skip."_

* * *

" _What is this I hear about you and Dean?" Jenny demanded as soon as Avery sat in their shared desk at Chemistry._

" _What's what?" Avery said. Jenny rolled her eyes heavily and gestured impatiently. "We're dating."_

" _Seriously?" Jenny's eyebrows raised to her hairline. "Since when?"_

" _About a ten days or so." Avery admitted sheepishly._

" _And you didn't tell me?" Jenny questioned._

" _Jen." Avery sighed, hiding her smile, these last days had been the happiest in a while. "He's my first boyfriend and I'm really nerv-"_

" _Say no more." Jenny stopped her from talking. "I get it." She said dramatically._

" _You do?" Avery said, feeling skeptical._

" _I went through the same thing with my first boyfriend."_

" _Jenny, that was like the fifth grade or so." Avery said._

" _The seventh." Jenny corrected her. "Anyways-" She suddenly smirked widely. "I want to know all the dirty details."_

" _Nothing happened yet." Avery said. She stopped talking when the teacher entered the classroom, though Jenny didn't seem to care as she continued._

" _Well, good luck with him." Jenny said. "You two seem perfect for each other."_

* * *

 _Avery and Dean lounged in her bedroom. The house was completely empty of its members except her. They had gone out of town for some reason she didn't even bother listening to as she instantly used the excuse of it being her senior year and that she needed to study. Her parents, happy to see her work hard for school, left her behind._

" _What the hell does this even mean?" Avery frowned. She was working on math, her worst subject followed by science._

" _Show me." Dean got up from the chair she kept beside her window and climbed in the bed, shifting himself so he was behind her. He grabbed the notebook and looked over the problem. "I remember this."_

" _Really?" She asked, thinking that she was finally getting a chance to understand it._

" _Yeah," He nodded, before throwing the paper aside, "I flunked that part in the test." Avery groaned, throwing her head back to Dean's chest. His arms came around her waist, pulling her so she was sitting between his legs. He pressed a feather-like kiss to her shoulder, smirking at the shiver that ran through her. "Maybe you should take a break."_

 _Without waiting for her to respond, he crashed his lips to her fiercely, his hands cupping her chin and deepening the kiss. Avery held back a moan when he parted her lips to enter his tongue. She broke the kiss to straddle him, sitting in a position they never tried. She tried to slam her lips against his again but he pulled away._

" _It's okay." She murmured softly, running her hands lightly over his chest. "I'm ready."_

" _Are you sure?" He gulped. It was obvious he was resisting to comply with her and flip them over. "I don't want to pressure you. I can wait-"_

 _She kissed him, cutting him off. He apparently lost whatever was holding him back and flipped them over so she was under. He softened the kiss, his lips pulls were slow and passionate. Avery's hands reached to tug his shirt, trying to get it off. Dean chuckled, pulling away to throw it back into the room, he connected their lips together at the same time as he took off her own shirt. Her hands shuffled to unbuckle his belt and pants, kicking them off his feet._

 _Avery wiggled out of her shorts, there was one moment when they both pulled away and sat up, panting heavily and staring at each other. He was only in his boxers and she was in her underwear set. Plain cotton, pale pink. She blushed when some clearness came back to her head. She tried to pick up the quilt to cover herself, only to be stopped by Dean's hands clamping around hers._

" _Don't." He said. His voice was deeper and huskier than she had ever heard. "Don't hide from me." He let of her hands, she kept them at her sides this time. Her face blushed brighter when he sat up on his knees, his eyes observing her. Insecurities ran through her head._

" _God, you're beautiful." Dean muttered, he leaned to kiss her again, his hands lifting her up a little to unclasp her bra. She closed her eyes when he stopped kissing her lips and moved to trail kisses down her neck until he reached her stomach. He didn't rush, none of his actions were urgent. He took his time laying sweet kisses all over her body, not leaving a spot untouched._

" _We can still stop." He whispered against her skin, stopping just above her panties, his eyes connected with hers to show the genuine emotion in them._

" _No." Avery said. "Go on." He kept his eyes connected with hers as he smoothly slid down the only piece of fabric on her body. His eyes questioning. He pulled back to lift the covers over the both of them._

" _If it's too much, or anything. Tell me to stop, and I'll stop." She closed her eyes, anticipating the pain she knew was bound to come._

" _I wanna try something." Dean murmured. "To help you a bit." And with that, he lowered his head between her legs. She breathed sharply when he laid a kiss softly down there before his lips met her foldes and began licking slowly and gently. She moaned at the new and strange sensation, he took that a sign to keep going as he sped up a little, his tongue entering her._

 _Avery had experienced anything like this, sure she had gotten a bit curious but never really did something. She was half sure she would grow up to be the single old lady who raised cats alone. Jenny was always the one to get the guys, Lori probably had the sweetest boyfriend that ever existed and Angela was content with casual flings._

" _How does that feel?" Dean whispered, sending vibration all through her body._

" _G-good." She breathed. "Dean, I-" She felt a pressure rise up but stopped when he pulled away. He was breathing heavily almost as much as she. She heard him clumsily reach down for his fallen pants and a faint crackle of foil as he put on the condom. She closed her eyes as he pressed a kiss to her lips, then forehead before positioning himself at her entrance. She gasped, making him still._

" _Go on." Avery turned her head to the side to bit into the pillow to muffle her gasps as pain shot right through her. He went in all the way, clearly holding back as his body was shaking, including his hands as he cupped her face and kissed her deeply, trying to distract her from the pain._

" _It's okay now." She said quietly when she felt a shift and pleasure flooded in her body. Dean buried his head in her hair and thrust deeper. She held onto his shoulders as he sped up and went much faster and harder. He wanted to last longer than her, his movements turned sloppy as her world exploded, he shuddered right after her, breathing heavily._

 _He pulled away, she watched him as he went into the connected bathroom of her bedroom to get rid of the condom and went back to her._

" _Did I hurt?" Dean said as he picked his clothes again._

" _No." Avery said, she pulled the covers over her chest to hide herself. "You were perfect."_

" _So it was good." She could see his smirk in the faint light, he leaned forwards to connect his lips with hers gently. She nodded after he broke away from her to hand her back her underwear, climbing into the bed again, he wouldn't have gotten up if it wasn't for the fact he knew she was shy about her body and physical contact._

" _But seriously." He pulled her to his chest to lay her head on his bare skin since he hadn't searched for his shirt. "If you feel any-"_

" _Dean, I'm fine." She traced a circle on his skin. "It felt good."_

" _One time thing or good enough to do it again sometime?" He asked._

" _Definitely again." She said. "Maybe even_ _very_ _soon." She pressed a kiss to his neck._

" _Let's wait a few days." He said. "How long until your family comes back?"_

" _Monday." She grinned, it was Friday, they had all weekend to themselves._

" _Perfect." Dean lowered his head to kiss her._


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the follow/favorites/reviews! Hope you like this chapter! Please tell me what you think.**

Chapter Six

" _Jenny," Avery entered her friend's apartment. Jennifer lived with her mother, her father had left them before she was born and she never had the chance to have any siblings with her workaholic mother. "I need your help for the test. I tried Dean, but he sucks at math too."_

" _Jen?" She opened the door to the black and pink themed bedroom. Her hand flew to her mouth in horror. "Jenny!" She dropped to her knees besides her. Jenny was lying on the bedroom, her face pale and her veins prominent. A clear bag of cocaine clutched in her hand. She was deathly still though Avery could see some light left in her eyes._

" _No, no, no." Avery murmured. She lightly touched Jenny's face, trying to get her to focus on her. "Jen, come on. Don't do this." Jenny was staring at Avery, her eyes barely moving. Anyone could figure that this were her last moments. "Please." Avery cried out softly. She dropped her head to rest on Jennifer's forehead, shaking her head as she saw the life leaving her friend's body._

 _A loud cry erupted out of Avery's throat, she rapidly fumbled for her phone, keeping her eyes on Jenny. "It's okay, I'm gonna get you help. You're gonna be fine."_

" _911, what's your emergency?" A female's voice said through the phone._

" _My friend, I think she overdosed." Words were falling quickly from her mouth._

" _Miss," The female said. "Where are you?" She said the address of Jenny's house, distantly hearing someone shouting to send an ambulance to said address._

" _Miss, what's your name?" The female asked._

" _I'm Avery." Avery sniffled. "Look, you gotta help her-"_

" _Help is on the way." The women said. "Avery, can you tell me if she's still moving?"_

" _I don't know." Avery cried. "I don't know." Her phone dropped from her hands._

A kiss on her cheek woke Avery up, she opened her eyes to see Dean hovering over her. A smile on his face. "I didn't mean to wake you up." He said softly.

"It's fine." She said sleepily. She noticed she was still lying on the couch, one of the blankets draped over her figure. Dean was fully dressed in his old clothes. "Are you going back to Spencer's?"

"Yeah," He nodded. "It's really early." He looked at his watch. 5:30 A.M.

"Can I come?" Avery asked, sitting up. "I'm going out anyway to get my car."

"Sure," Dean replied. "We've got time." She leaned forwards to kiss him before pulling back and glancing at herself under the blanket. He chuckled. "I think we ruined my couch." She said.

"I didn't hear you complain." He smirked. "In fact, I think I did hear you-"

"Okay." She said loudly. She got up, wrapping the cover around her body. "I'm going to get dressed." She tripped on the way, hearing Dean's laughter as she almost fell. A few minutes later, she came out of the room with a black V-line t-shirt and light blue jean shorts and her favorite pair of Vans. She was throwing her up in a messy bun by the time she finally arrived at the living room. Dean was waiting with a thermal cup in his hands.

"Is that coffee?" She asked, pointing at it. He nodded, handing it to her, his eyes looking over her messy appearance. "God, I love you." She eagerly took a large sip of the warm liquid, enjoying the way it traveled down her throat, warming her whole body.

"Come on, beautiful." She followed Dean out of the apartment, making sure to lock the door after her. Once they arrived at the Hastings's house, she had finished her coffee and felt the buzz that caffeine gave her.

"Hey, is it okay if I go talk to someone?" Avery asked him, he followed her gaze to the house next door, a guy was unloading boxes from his car.

"Yeah, meet you back at the house?" He said, she agreed, leaning on her toes to kiss him. Unaware that Jason was already watching her from his place outside his childhood home.

Dean went inside the barn for a quick change of clothes and grabbed the newspaper on the way out. He seated himself in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and had just picked up the paper when Spencer came down the stairs, talking on her phone.

"You're up early." He observed, not looking up.

"Yeah," Spencer moved towards her bag that was sitting on the counter. "I have to go talk to somebody before school."

"Okay," Dean made a move to get up. "I'll grab my jacket."

"No, Dean." Spencer protested. "You don't have to come."

"Yeah, I do." He interjected. "Your folks hired me to be with you at all times."

"Okay, I get it. but this...my friend. You're gonna make him very uncomfortable."

"Why the pause?" Dean asked, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Spencer said uncertainly.

"You _paused_ before you said friend. How come?" He said.

Annoyance flashed through Spencer's eyes. "Because he's my next door neighbor. And he's also my-it's complicated. Okay?"

"You're making it sound more and more inviting."

"Dean, seriously, please." She adjusted her bag on her shoulders. "He just got out of rehab himself and if my sitter tags along to chaperone-"

"It's my job."

"It's annoying." Spencer shot back. "Okay? I'm not going to meet him behind a dumpster to cook meth. I'm just walking next door." She looked out for Jason, finding him chatting with Avery. Her eyes widened, this was trouble.

 _Alison suddenly threw her head back, giggling at the view in front of her._

" _What is it, Ali?" Emily asked, they were all lounging in the Dilaurentis backyard, gossiping and talking as usual._

" _Jason." Alison answered, a smile on her face. All the girls turned their heads to see what she was looking at. Jason was talking to Avery, who had come to pick Aria up-much to the younger sister's dismay. Avery was laughing, her hand covering her mouth to stifle the chuckles. Jason was smiling, gazing softly at her._

" _So pathetic." Ali said. "He's making it too obvious that he's in love with her."_

" _Jason and Avery?" Spencer asked, her eyebrows raised in questioning. "That doesn't look right."_

" _Of course it doesn't." Alison scoffed. "She has a boyfriend."_

" _What was his name again?" Hanna asked._

" _Dean," Ali supplied. "He's totally hot." She looked at Aria, who was preparing her bag to get up. "What do you think, Aria?" She said. "Jason or Dean."_

" _Avery would definitely pick Dean," Aria said. "He's been her boyfriend since she was like fifteen or something."_

" _I don't think she even knows Jason likes her." Spencer said._

" _That's why I said pathetic." Alison said before getting up from her chair and grinning. "Watch this girls." She waved at Avery. "Hey! Avery." Avery's head snapped towards her, the small smile that was there fading, she began walking to them, Jason on her heels._

" _Where's Dean?" Alison asked the older girl. "I thought you didn't go anywhere without him."_

" _Don't be a bitch, Ali." Avery said. The girls suddenly felt jealous of her sister. Avery was the only one who could stand up to Alison and leave unharmed, not even most adults did it. Her sister could call Ali a bitch and do it while smiling. The weird thing was that Alison would smile too, teasing her back, not mean teasing, but normal-friendly teasing._

 _Alison smiled innocently at Avery, twirling the straw of the soda she holding. "I was only saying the truth." She looked at her up and down from head to toe. The girls prepared themselves for her to diss Aria's sister. "You look good, nice outfit."_

 _Avery was wearing her normal tank top and a pair of dark shorts with boots, her hair was braided away from her face in a french braid. This was the way she always dressed in the summer, light and fun._

" _Thanks." She said, oblivious that Jason was checking her out too. "Aria, you ready?"_

" _Can't you just wait for half an hour? Ali was telling us this story about-" Aria was cut off by Avery's phone ringing. Alison rolled her blue eyes, already knowing who was calling by the smile on Avery's face._

" _Hey, Dean." Avery said into the phone. "Yeah, I'm coming. I'm picking up Aria." She glanced at the girls and Jason. "No, it's not a problem." She said, though they could see her disappointment. Avery giggled, her cheeks blushing. "That would definitely make it up." She laughed again at something he said. "Dean, it's just an hour. We're both going to still be there after sixty minutes."_

" _They're going to have a date." Alison whispered, her voice loud enough for her brother to hear. "I bet they're going to have sex after."_

" _Ali!" Aria's face was horrified. "She's my sister."_

" _And your sister's pretty. She has two guys pining after her." Alison said._

" _-we stay in? Order in pizza or something?" Avery was still talking on the phone. "Hot chocolate. Umm, you're sucking up to me. Something you want? Or something you already did?" She giggled again. "Fine-yeah, I can walk home… No, I don't have someone to walk me."_

" _I'll walk you." Jason offered, ignoring his younger sister's knowing stare._

 _Avery smiled. "Jason's saying he could do it-he's Alison's brother." She gestured for Aria to sit down back, a clear sign that she has time to pick her up later. "Don't stress. Okay?" She reassured Dean. "Bye." She hung up the phone._

" _Jason, are you sure?" She asked. "I don't want to hold you up or anything."_

" _It's okay. I don't have any plans." Jason said. "I have the car keys, if you want?"_

" _Thanks." Avery said. Jason nodded and went inside to get them. She turned to the girls, who were strangely silent._

" _Alright, Aria." She said. "Is it okay if you stay the night? I came back to pick you up late but if you want-"_

" _She can stay." Alison cut in. They heard Jason coming out, Avery turned to them again, holding a mock-stern finger. "Don't make bad decisions." And with that, she waved goodbye and followed Jason to the car._

" _Poor Jason." Emily said after they left._

" _Yeah," Ali snorted. "'Poor Jason', he's the one who can't take a hint for the last year."_

" _Still," Spencer said, feeling like she had to come to Avery's defense. "Avery doesn't have an idea he had a crush on her. Cut her some slack."_

 _Alison hummed, "I guess we'll see how that plays out."_

"See? Avery's talking to him, she can chaperon me. Could you just watch us from the window?" Dean followed her gaze to the house next door, feeling jealousy spark up in his stomach. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Spencer went and interrupted their conversation.

"Okay, fine." He agreed, getting up. "Where's the cup?" Spencer looked almost helplessly to him.

"Spencer, I need an urine sample. That's the deal." He said.

"Well, I'm tapped out." She moved to leave through the door.

"Well," Dean pushed the container of water towards her.

"Hey, stranger." Avery greeted Jason. He looked up from his front porch where he was setting a box.

"Hey." He said, he grabbed another box.

"'hey'? Just 'hey'? Man, you really are a stranger." She said. "What's going on with you?"

Jason sighed, finally settling to set the boxes down and stood in front of her. "It's my mom. She's having a tough time."

"I asked about _you_." Avery said, crossing her arms around her chest. She wished she had gotten her sunglasses with her, the sun was killing her eyes.

"Well enough." Jason answered.

"That's not nearly-" She was cut off by Jason's eyes disconnecting with hers, she followed where he was looking and saw Spencer marching towards them.

"I gotta go." He said, taking the last box and entering his house. Spencer had just arrived to stand besides Avery when the door slammed.

"That was rude." Avery said, not noticing Spencer's suspicious of Jason.

"Yeah," Spencer said absentmindedly. "Hey, Avery. I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure," Avery turned to face her, her back towards the Dilaurentis house. "Is it about withdrawal?" Before the younger girl could reply. "Because if you're having trouble, I can help. When Dean and I were trying to stay sober, we tried to keep ourselves busy." She widened her dramatically, "Sex." She enjoyed the way Spencer seemed to squirm at her blunt tone.

"N-no, it's not that." Spencer clutched her books tighter to her chest. "It's-"

"Shoot." Avery interrupted her, looking at her watch. "I have classes. Is this a short story, or like an hour sitting worth of stories?"

"The latter." Spencer said. Avery smiled before starting to walk to her house to say goodbye to Dean. "It's about A." Spencer mumbled, though Avery couldn't hear her from the distance.

Avery opened the Hastings door, smiling at the sight of Dean reading the newspaper. "Hey, boyfriend." She sang lightly before stopping. "Is it okay if I call you that?"

"Yes, girlfriend." He got up, his hand immediately reaching to tug her towards him. "It's fine with me." He took joy at the way she chuckled and blushed at the same time, leaning to kiss her. She responded instantly, her hands supporting her on his shoulders. Dean parted her lips, his tongue invading her mouth. Avery smiled in the kiss when he groaned at the back of his throat.

"Are you sure you can't skip?" He complained, resting his forehead against hers.

"I only have twenty minutes until I have to be there." She said.

"Good." Dean captured her lips again. "Just enough time."

"That doesn't include the ride there." She kissed him once before detaching herself a step away from him. "I still gotta walk to the Brew and get my car from there."

"I can drive you." He offered.

"Thanks, but I can't keep putting off getting my car." Avery said. "See ya?"

"Definitely." Dean nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too." She pressed a kiss against his lips, she meant it as a simple brush of lips but he didn't let go, only cupping her cheek and deepening the kiss. He broke apart after they were both finding the need for air overwhelming. "I'll see you tonight."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all the follows/favorites. A special thanks to AFan, RHatch89, Savily, Hannah1796 for reviewing. It keeps me motivated. Hope you like this chapter and please tell me what you think!**

Chapter Seven

 _Aria woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. All the lights in the house were closed so she didn't expect someone sitting in the living room in complete darkness._

" _Avery?" Aria asked carefully. Avery jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, which even Aria more suspicious, Avery rarely got startled, nevertheless by her sister. She opened the light, the first thing she noticed was her older sister's puffy cheeks and bloodshot eyes._

" _Are you okay?" She asked. Avery was sitting on the couch, her legs tucked in under her, she looked like a mess. Her hair was down and wildly curly instead of its usual calm beachy waves Avery put it in. She was wearing pale blue silk shorts with the matching pyjama top, all her clothes were crumpled, as if she was tossing and turning all night in bed, "Have you been crying?"_

" _I'm fine." Avery silently cursed herself for the way her voice came out. She cleared her throat. "Something wrong? Why are you up this late?"_

" _I went to get a glass of water." Aria ignored that quest and sat on the opposite side of Avery on the couch. "What's with you?"_

" _Nothing." She looked away._

" _No, it's not nothing if you're crying over it." Aria said. "Is it Dean, did he-"_

" _Of course not." Avery shook her head. "Dean's perfect."_

" _Then what?" Aria asked. When her sister didn't answer, she leaned over to pick the phone from besides her. "If you won't tell me what's wrong I'll call Dean and have him fix it."_

" _You can't call him in the middle of the night." Avery said, though her hazel eyes held doubt._

" _You wanna bet?" Aria raised her eyebrows challengingly._

 _Avery groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Since when are you such a brat?"_

" _Since you stepped out of that role." Aria rotated. "Now, come one. What happened?"_

" _Aria, I told you nothing." Avery got up, all traces of whatever vulnerableness wiped from her expression. "You hate me anyway, why does it matter?" She almost snapped._

" _I don't hate you, Avery." Aria stood up on her feet as well, but Avery was already gone up the stairs. Her feet light as she walked to her bedroom. Aria sighed and went to the kitchen to get the water she came for in the first place._

 **You're making a mistake**

 **-A**

The note was stuck in the small gap of her car's window. Avery didn't even have to think about what was a mistake. Her relationship with Dean.

"No, no, no." She murmured, ripping the yellow paper apart to pieces. She huffed a breath when she was done and none of the anger or frustration faded away. She looked around to make sure no one in the street was staring at her, a few were casting her weird looks since, after all, she just ripped a paper to a million little shreds and threw it to the ground.

She jumped when her phone rang, relaxing when her sister's name flashed across the screen.

"Aria." Avery tried to keep her voice neutral, not giving away the mental breakdown she was seconds away from having. It didn't work since her voice came out raspy and breathless.

" _Let me guess._ " Aria's voice was a little sarcastic, " _You just got an A note._ "

The phone almost dropped from her hands, her fingers were shaking by the time she put it against her ear again, hearing Aria calling her name. "I'm sorry, what?"

" _I said A._ " Aria said.

"Aria," Avery gulped. "I don't know what you got or-"

"Meet us at Spencer's." Aria hung up on her. Avery stared at the devise in her hands for a minute before shaking her head and scrambled to get into her car. She turned on the engine, her hand still unsteady on the wheel as she drove. She parked her car carelessly when she arrived. She marched to the door, not even stopped by Dean, who came out of the barn.

"Avery." He called but she didn't respond. "Avery." He went after her, entering the house. His hair was wet from his shower. He was surprised to see all the Emily, Aria and Hanna sitting besides Spencer. "W-"

"What the hell, Aria?" Avery said immediately, an expression on her face none of them had ever seen on her face.

"What's wrong?" Dean lightly touched Avery's shoulder.

"Dean, could you give us a moment?" Spencer asked, getting up.

"No, I don't think I can." He said.

"Show me the note." She held her arm out for Aria, tapping her foot impatiently.

"What note?" Aria asked.

"The one signed by A." She replied. "Now." Her eyes narrowed. The four teenagers' eyes shifted to Dean, who was standing behind Avery.

"I don't any note." Aria gestured for the other girls to get their phones out, all of them held them with the most recent A text they got.

"This isn't happening." Avery shook her head, grabbing Aria's phone and scrolled down, seeing all the A texts. "This has to be a joke."

"It's not a joke." Emily said, glancing uncertainly at Dean.

"When did this started happening?" Avery demanded.

"When I came back from Iceland." Aria said, "We all got the texts after."

"Some individual and some the same." Spencer said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Avery inquired.

"We didn't tell anyone." Hanna said. Avery shook her head, as if this was a dream. She sat down on the sofa, Dean squeezed her shoulder before getting up to the girls.

"Who else knows?" He asked. Spencer exchanged a look with her friends, each of them nodding.

"Toby, Caleb, Paige," Spencer listed. "Ezra wrote a book about it."

"Ezra wrote a book about it?" Avery repeated in disbelief.

"It's a long story." Emily said. "How does Dean know?"

"I know because she told me." Dean said. He got a glass of water for Avery, she sent him a grateful look as she took it.

"I want the whole story." Avery said. "And don't miss any details. No missing parts because you feel like it. Not because it's your secrets and past." She spoke clearly. "Alright? I don't fucking care."

The girls' eyes widened at Avery, she rarely swore. Hanna was the first to sit down in front of Avery. By turn, they started telling all that happened. Alison and _that night_ , Darren Wilden, Garrett, the NAT club. Mona, Toby. The Jenna thing. Everything.

"You're just kids." Avery protested when they finished.

"You were our age when you first started getting A notes." Aria defended. Avery's light eyes snapped towards her sister.

"How did you know that?" Avery said. Aria deflected, looking at the others for help.

"You forgot your phone the other day." Spencer said weakly. She awkwardly got up and handed it back to Avery.

"So, you went through it?" Avery accused. The younger girl nodded, a guilty expression on her face, she opened her mouth to say something to explain herself but stopped when she noticed the look on Avery's face.

"And, Aria." She turned to her little sister. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't tell me either." Aria said.

"Because you're my _little_ sister." Avery stressed on the word 'little'. "Does Mike know?"

"No." Aria said. She sat down next to Avery, her posture defeated. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Yeah," Avery nodded absentmindedly. She cleared her throat, getting up and stuffed her phone in her pocket. "I'm gonna go." She said in a clipped tone, avoiding everyone's eyes. "Dean, can you…?" She didn't have to finish her sentence as Dean already got up and grabbed her hand. They both walked out without a word, not until they reached outside her car.

"Avery." Dean pressed a kiss to the side of her head. She clung to him desperately, knowing what she had to do. Avery grabbed him from the back of his neck and crashed her lips roughly to his. The kiss was harsh and desperate, everything she was feeling.

"We can't keep seeing each other." Avery breathed, shaking her head.

"What?" Dean pulled back.

"We-"

"I heard you the first time." He said. "Avery, we don't have to do it because Aria's getting texts too. I'll help you. I'll protect you both."

"Dean." Avery moved to open the driver's door.

"Did you get another text?" Dean's voice was firm. When she didn't answer, he understood. "Show it to me."

"I can't." She said. "I ripped it apart."

"Then, what did it say?" He asked, crossing his arms when she didn't answer.

"That this was mistake." Avery said. Dean's hand cupped her cheek, his finger lightly running over her cheekbones.

"Does this feel like a mistake?" He murmured.

Her breathing was more deep now."No, it doesn't." She knew she was taking the easy way out. She was willing to take the risk when it was just her in danger. But, now Aria and her friends, and their friends were are at stake too.

"We'll figure it out." Dean's cool hands slid to her thin waist, pulling her as close as physically possible. "Okay? Together."

" _Avery?" Dean knocked on her open door, leaning against it._

 _Avery probably looked as awful as she felt, she was still in her funeral dress. A knee length black dress with two thin straps. The reason she wore it was because Jenny had bought it for her. And since this was the last time she would ever see Jenny, she would make her wish come true to see her in girlie dresses._

" _What do you want me to do?" He asked her. He didn't ask if she was okay, because it was obvious she wasn't. He didn't say the same thing she has been hearing for hours._

 _She looked up from her place on the bed, her eyes shinning with tears. Dean's expression was sympathetic as he breathed and entered her room, swiftly closing the door behind him. He nudged her gently so she would scoot over. He slid besides her, his arms wrapping around her figure and pulling her to his chest. Avery hid her face in the fabric of his shirt, silent sobs filling her chest. Dean shushed her softly, his grip tightening and his hand stroking her back so she would calm down. He tried to adjust his position, making her clutch his shirt tighter and whimper._

" _It's okay." He whispered quietly. "I'm not going anywhere."_

 _After a few minutes of more crying, Avery managed to gather herself together to form a decent sentence. "I'm gonna go sober."_

" _What?" Dean looked down to her, she was avoiding his eyes like she did when she was nervous._

" _I'm gonna quit drugs." She repeated. "I understand if you don't want t do it too, I won't judge. Or maybe if you want to break up-" She was cut off by him pressing a kiss to her forehead._

" _That's a good idea." He said, making her tense in his arms._

" _Breaking up?" She asked quietly._

" _No." Dean denied, earning a relieved sigh. "Going sober."_

" _Really?" Avery questioned. "You're not just saying that-"_

" _I've been thinking about it for a while." He said. "I'm almost a senior, Avery. I have to think about college. I can't go to my first interview high." He added. "And my dad will barely pay for anything, so I have to get extra grades and pump my score."_

" _You're serious, aren't you?" She sat up a little, not removing herself from his hold._

" _I am." He said. "Are you?"_

" _Yes." Avery nodded. "We can together. We'll help each other."_

"Can you come stay the night?" Avery asked Dean. They had both taken to sitting in her car, not yet leaving but not going inside either. "It's just-"

"You don't have to give me an excuse." He said. "Of course I will." His eyes were lighter in the dark car, he leaned over his seat and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "I'll just go get my jacket."

Avery caught him by his sleeve. "You can bring clothes, too. So Spencer's mom doesn't find you in the same ones as the day before."

"Okay." He kissed her one more time before getting out of the car, firstly going to the barn to get clothes for tomorrow and then the house for his jacket. The four girls were talking among each other in hurried tones, though they stopped when he entered the room.

"Girls." He nodded his head, going over to the chair he had hung his jacket over and put it on. Each girl was watching his movements, he raised an eyebrow at them.

"We feel bad about Avery." Emily explained.

"Well, wipe the guilty expressions off your faces, she doesn't like pity." He said.

"It's understandable." Spencer said. "We spent all these years worrying about A while she had been going through it way longer than us."

"What does A have on her, anyway?" Hanna asked. "She was always so perfect when we were young."

"Gotta ask her yourself." Dean grabbed the doorknob but turned his head in the last second. "And Aria," He said. "Talk to her. You both might have that little rivalry, but you went through the same thing. She'll understand." And with that, he left.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

 _Avery woke up by the sound of something hitting her window. She shot up in bed, the recent A threat running through her mind. She slowly walked towards it and yanked her black curtains back. Dean was standing under the window, a small pebble in his hands, ready to be thrown._

" _What are you doing?" She hissed. "You're going to wake everyone in the house."_

 _Dean's grin was evident in the moon's light. He threw his arms to the side. "I love you Avery Montgomery."_

" _I know that." She bit her lip worriedly. Her parents will definitely kill her if she had a boy standing outside their house at two o'clock in the morning._

" _And," He went on. "I remembered when you told me you always wanted someone to show up under your window at night with a boom box and sneak to your room." She felt her cheeks burn red at that. She didn't remember saying that, she guesses she was drunk or something when she blurted it out. And Dean, being Dean, of course remembered that._

" _Catch." He threw something up, she barely caught it. It was a backpack, his bag. "Don't open it yet." He walked towards the wall of her house. She had the sort of wooden trail leading up besides her window to the side of the house. Dean shook it, making sure it was steady enough for him to climb. She guesses it wasn't, but he condemned it enough as he started going up._

 _She was anxious as he got higher and higher. He could fall and break his arm or a leg. When he was in reach. She leaned down and took ahold of his arm and tried to yank him up as much as she could. He dropped through into her room on his ass. Dean groaned as he hit the ground. She quickly helped him up to his feet._

" _What do you think?" He asked. "Out of ten."_

" _I'll give you an eight." Avery said. "One point off for the ungraceful landing. And another for waking me up."_

" _Isn't it like every girl's dream to have a guy tell her in the middle of the night he love her?" Dean said. Regaining his energy as he went sit on the edge of her bed. She went to turn on the lights. As soon as she turned around, she knew why he had chosen this particular day to find her. He had a split lip and a bruise on his cheek._

" _What happened?" She gently took his chin in her hand, turning his head to the side to examine his face._

" _Do you really have to ask?" He said dryly, making her shoot a concerned look in his direction. "We fought."_

" _About?" She stood up to walk to her closet to get the first aid kit she kept there as this wasn't the first time he had come to her with a bruise. It wasn't a lot, his family fought frequently, but not physically most of the time._

" _The usual. Nothing important." He shrugged. He wasn't going to tell her it was about her. Sheldon, his older his brother had been fighting with him when Dean decided to be the better man and walk away when Sheldon called to him, saying 'run to your pretty little girlfriend.' Dean had snapped and punched him in the jaw. They kept going until his father broke it up, sending them both far away from each other.._

" _Well," Avery tried a positive tone. "At least you're here. What's in your bag?"_

" _Oh." He winced when she applied pressure to his lip, earning a mumbled apology. "I couldn't get to a boom box but brought you something instead." She let him go, he unzipped it, getting out a CD._

" _It's a new band." He explained. "I thought you'll like it."_

" _Thanks." She finished patching him up and pressed a soft kiss to his other-unbruised cheek. "I'll listen to it first thing in the morning."_

" _You're welcome." He muttered. "Can I ask you something?"_

" _Yeah, sure." She said._

" _Can I stay the night?" He asked. "I promise I'll clear out before the sun has even comes up."_

" _Even if." She said. "Mom and Dad won't mind. I'll get you some blankets." She disappeared to the hallway and returned with two blankets in her arms and a pillow. "You can sleep on the bed."_

" _Even though I'll love to." A hint of smile was on his face. "Your parents will have a different opinion."_

 _She agreed, letting his settle in the chair she had, it was a bit long, so he could lie down a little if he wanted to. Avery slid back in her bed under the cover. Dean turned off the light, leaving the room in darkness. After a while of tossing and turning, she sat up, huffing a soft breath._

" _I don't want to go to sleep." Avery said, her voice no higher than a whisper._

" _What do you want to do?" He asked, his voice was also clear and alert._

" _Talk?" They stayed up all night talking, about his family and about hers._

A hesitant knock woke Avery up. She glanced at Dean besides, who was in the process of waking up. "Go back to sleep. I'll get it." She murmured, kissing him on his cheek. She got out of bed, running her fingers lightly through her hair. The knocking continued.

"Alright, alright." Avery muttered. "I'm coming." She opened the door, only to have the air knocked out of her as Aria hugged her. Her little sister threw herself at her, her arms around her shoulders. She could hear her sniffle.

"Aria, what's wrong?" She asked immediately.

"Everything." Aria buried her head in Avery's hair. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize." Avery hugged her back. "I didn't tell you either."

"But I should've noticed." Aria pulled back, Avery noticed for the first time that she was wearing pajamas with a simple jacket on top of it. "I thought I kept hearing crying at night but I ignored it."

"It's fine." Avery reassured her. "If you had asked me, I would've brushed you off." She grabbed her sister's hands, pulling her to the kitchen. "Come on, I'll get out something to eat." Aria let her drag her, sitting down obediently when Avery pointed at one of the chairs at the small table against the wall.

"So, what do you want?" Avery asked. "I have leftovers Chinese and pizza. I can find some-"

"Can you make pancakes?" Aria said. She sighed at the amused expression that appeared on Avery's face. "It's just that you and mom used to make them when one of us got upset." Avery nodded, moving to get out the ingredients.

"How do you do it?" Aria questioned.

"What?" The older girl said. She held the mixing bowl awkwardly. "Pancakes?"

"No." Aria shook her head. "Be you." Avery sighed and put down the bowl on the counter, she sat in the chair across her sister.

"I think it's time we need to have _the talk_." She said.

"Avery," Aria bit her lip. "I already-"

"Not that." Avery fake shuddered before turning serious. "Let's see how much you'll think of me as 'perfect'." She took a deep breath. _God, she was such a bad role model._ "I was addicted to drug."

Aria froze, her eyes wide. "W-what?"

"Just listen." Avery held her hands in defense. She told her sister about how she started, one of her friends pressured her to try and take _one_ drag from a smoke and she's been hooked ever since. She told her everything, right until Jenny dies and she decided to go sober.

"Watching her in the last moments-" Avery tried to keep her voice from trembling. "I thought ' _my best friend just died from the same thing I do everyday._ ' And so, I quit. I mean, I kept thinking this could happen to me."

Aria, who had been silent for the entire time, lifted her eyes up to meet hers. "Where does Dean come in?"

"Well, he was my boyfriend. I told him I wanted to go sober and he said he's been thinking about it a lot so we did it together."

"You didn't have professional help?" The teen asked in disbelieve.

"No." Avery shook her head. "We backed each other up, distracting ourselves when the craving and the edge became too much. There was a while," She smiled a little at the memory. "Where we literally did everything together. Meals, school, sports."

"That sounds nice-" Aria said. "-ish."

"Yeah." Avery agreed. "It was."

"So, you can help Spencer. Right?" Aria said.

"Aria, it doesn't work like that." Avery sighed. "Every person is different when they're going through withdrawal. Dean and I became co-dependent. Some people bury themselves in work, they find distractions or face the problem."

"Wow." Aria leaned back. "That's intense."

Avery hummed in agreement. "You know what, I'm gonna need some coffee." She got up ."I just need to go to the bathroom first." She started a pot of coffee and went to her bedroom, where Dean was still sleeping. She grabbed his hoodie that he threw on the edge of the bed and slipped it on, enjoying the warmth.

She came back to the kitchen, seeing Aria already pouring the pancakes mix into a pan. The younger girl smiled sheepishly. "I sorta got started earlier."

"It's fine." Avery waved her off before moving to get the waffle maker from the top cabinet, she set it on the counter, plugging it in.

"Can I live here?" Aria's jaw dropped slightly.

Avery chuckled while pouring the mix to make the waffle. "If you ask mom and dad." After making sure it was secure, she went to the fridge and got out the maple syrup and whipped cream and berries. She was about to sit down when she remembered she still had something else to serve. She got a basket filled with scones and cinnamon rolls and muffins. She got back to the waffles, intent on making a large stack of them while Aria finished her stack of pancakes.

"Is it morning yet?" Dean's sleepy voice snapped both girls' attention to him. he was leaning on the doorway.

"Not even close." Avery answered. "It's breakfast foods for dinner." She did it a lot so he wasn't surprised. The only thing different was that Aria joined in making it.

The teen watched as Dean seemed to move as if he was in his own home, he moved to the fridge and got out several containers of juice and water, getting out the jam as Avery told him to.

He noticed Aria's staring and smiled. "This isn't my first time." He got the plates and utensils. "You haven't seen the worst of your sister."

"You know." Avery sang lightly. "If you don't like it, you can always leave."

"And miss your waffles?" He said, moving to stand behind her and put his arms around her waist from behind her, his lips brushing against her ear. "Not a chance." He let out a grunt when she elbowed him in the ribs.

"My little sister is here." She hissed. He kissed on the cheek before thankfully moving back. He helped her with setting the food down on the table and sat along with the Montagermy sisters.

Aria looked at Avery and Dean, they were in sync with each other, they snatched food off of their plates. She never talked to Avery for longer than a few minutes to know of her relationship with Dean. They had been together for so long and she was always with him, she barely saw her sister in the summer.

She just hoped that A doesn't ruin it when her sister is happy again.

 **So, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but it's here. But I hope you enjoyed. Please, follow/favorite/review anything is welcome. Thanks for reading 3 3**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

 _Avery stood at the bus stop where she and Dean had made plans to meet. She leaned against it, boredly tapping her foot. She breathed in relief when she saw Dean walking towards her. He stopped in front of her and dipped his head to connect his lips with hers, pulling away after only a short few moments. He chuckled when she playfully pouted._

" _It's your choice today." She rested her hands on his chest. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt since it was summer, and dark jeans. "What do you wanna do?"_

" _I…" Dean leaned in again, he brushed his lips against hers. "I want to be with you."_

" _I thought we were gonna stop with the cliches." Avery whispered._

" _We are." He said, pulling away. "I'm broke."_

" _That's a bummer." She said. "Are you having troubles with your family again-" She stopped when he shook his head. He didn't like talking about his family at all, and rarely ever did._

" _Well, then." She said. "I don't have any money too." She pulled her pockets out to make a point. "I gave what I have to Mike."_

" _Why did you give your money to your brother?" Dean asked. "Isn't that your mom or dad's job?"_

" _He's taking out a girl." She grinned. "I couldn't say no. He looked so cute and nervous because he didn't want to tell our parents so he doesn't jinx it."_

" _That's sweet." He didn't look at her as he reached into his pocket to pull something white out._

" _Is that-" Dean nodded before she can finish and pulled out his lighter. He took a long drag and offered it to Avery._

" _Thank God." She took it eagerly, sighing in relief when she started feeling the effects. "Do you know how long it's been since I last had one?" She didn't give him a chance to guess. "Two days. I swear I was going crazy." She noticed Dean eyeing her strangely._

" _What?" She took another drag._

" _You sure you aren't overdoing it?" He said evenly. "With-"_

" _If I want to stop. I'll stop." Avery gave it back to him. "Right now. I don't."_

Avery looked at her reflection strangely in the mirror. The strapless lace white gown she wore felt heavy on her skin. Her hair had been done up in a twisted updo with a few dark strands left to frame her face. Her makeup was light with pale pink gloss and eyeliner and blush. She didn't have a veil like the rest of the girls, Jessica Dilaurentis had decided she looked better without it, she didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or as an insult.

"Avery?" She glanced at Aria, her sister was absolutely beautiful in her own wedding dress.

"Aria." She smiled softly, picking the dress up to walk over to her. "You look gorgeous." She placed a gentle hand on her cheek.

"Thanks." Aria said, checking Avery's dress. "But not in comparison to you." She complimented. "Dean's gonna freak."

Avery chuckled, looking back to the large mirror. "We'll see about that."

"The girls and I are in the other room, want to come?" Aria said. Avery nodded, grabbing her phone-now password protected. The three other girls were standing in front of a mirror, much like she did.

"Avery." Spencer sighed in relief. "I have to talk to you."

"Yeah." Avery said. "Something wrong?"

"Yes." Spencer said, a guilty expression on her face. "Mom fired Dean."

"What?" Avery asked, surprised. She and Dean didn't talk all day since Ms. Marin had roped her in with the event. They had agreed to meet after the show. "Why?"

"Okay, before anything. It didn't mean anything. I was just tired and he was reading," Spencer said quickly. "We fell asleep on the couch. We didn't do anything, I swear." She bit her lip anxiously. "Are you mad?"

"I'm not. Don't worry." Avery reassured the younger girl. "I trust Dean." Spencer breathed in relief, hugging her briefly before awkwardly moving back.

"So girls." Avery let out a teasing smile, though they could all see her straining to keep it. "You all look amazing. I'm sure everyone out there are going to drool over how you look."

"Thanks." Emily said, the others agreed but they all looked distracted.

"You look pretty too." Hanna added. Avery nodded her thanks before turning serious., crossing her arms.

"What're you up to?" She questioned.

"Nothing." Aria tried to shrug but she straighten when she caught the expression on Avery's face. She sighed "Hanna's mom found a bag with clothes in Alison's old room."

"You think those are for who? Alison?" Avery's brow rose in disbelief.

"We're not sure." Emily spoke. "We came here to look for an address or anything that could help us."

"I'll see if I can find anything." Avery offered, she slowly walked backwards out of the room. "Call me when it's my time to shine." She gestured mockingly to her dress. "I gotta find Dean-" Her back bumped into something hard.

"Looks like he found you first." Hanna commented before wincing at the glares the girls shot her. Avery waved one last time before grabbing Dean from his collar and yanked him out of the room. She opened the door of one of the rooms and pushed him inside and locked the door after them.

"Spencer told you." Dean concluded. "I wanted to first. Nothing-"

"I believe you." Avery intersected. "As long as nothing intimate or romantic happened."

"I promise." the tension in his muscles relaxed.

"Good. Okay." She smoothed the non-existent wrinkles on her dress. "Where're you gonna stay?"

"I don't know." He deflated when she raised her eyebrows. "I didn't really think about it."

"Alright, then." Avery nodded. "You're staying with me."

"I can't ask you to do that." Dean took a step towards her, they were almost touching. "I'm not the kind of boyfriends who mooches off his girlfriend."

"You're not using me, Dean." She sighed, taking his hands and running her fingers lightly over his knuckles. "I'm using you."

"Really?" He allowed a small smile to break through his face. "How's that?"

"You know..." She closed the space between them and placed her hands in his pockets. "I'm alone in that apartment _all day_ and _all alone_." She watched his eyes darken. "I need some company."

Her gasp went unheard when he crashed their lips. His tongue immediately parting her lips and forced its way in, not that she minded. She bit his bottom lip, earning a low growl from him as he slammed her against the wall. Her hands intertwined behind the back of his neck while his were tightly pressing around her waist.

"Avery!" She and Dean broke apart. Ms. Marin's voice was on the opposite side of the door. "Hanna told me you're here." She sounded impatient. "It's almost time."

"Be right there." Avery called. She was breathing heavily from the previous lack of oxygen, she looked at Dean, he didn't even turn to glance at the door where Hanna's mom stood.

"I ruined your lipstick." He said, his eyes turned to hers when she snorted. "I honestly don't care." She kissed him again, only to have him pull away.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" Dean moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "Because even if I did. You're beautiful." He smirk when he saw the blush covering her cheeks.

"It's nice to know I can still make you blush." He breathed. "But I won't hold you up." He released her with a final kiss on her cheek. She smiled and led him by the hand to outside the room.

"Are you nervous?" Dean asked as they walked.

"About walking down the runways?" Avery said. "A little. It's weird."

"Weird." He repeated, as if testing the word. "Why is it weird?"

"Not _weird_." She said. "It's sort of intimidating." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "Being in a wedding dress."

He looked at her more questionably. "I just never thought I'll wear one after…" She trailed, not wanting to bring up last year.

"Avery," He sighed. "Don't blame yourself."

"How? I-" She was interrupted by someone calling her name. Hanna's mom stood, an anxious expression on her face, she gestured to behind her where Avery was supposed to go. She sighed and leaned up to press a kiss to Dean's mouth.

"See you on the other side." She mumbled before moving to the runway.

"You looked beautiful." Dean said as soon as she went down. "Too beautiful. I think I'm going to whisk you away from the world and keep you hidden with me forever."

"I'll be very willing." Avery teased. She fanned herself with one hand. "God, it's hot."

"Yeah." He said. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Please. And this dress." Her eyes widened when she realized how the last part sounded, Dean's smirk from besides her informed her he noticed her too. "Oh, shut up." She shoved him before going in the dressing room where her old clothes were in.

"Can you wait for me outside?" She asked him before going in. "I took a ride with the girls."

"Sure." He lowered his head to kiss her on her forehead and left. She touched her lips softly after he disappeared from view. Almost five years and it still tingled and sent electricity through her whenever he touched her, no matter how cliche that sounded. She dressed back to her light skinny jeans and over-sized sweater that had one of its sleeves hanging off her shoulder, she sighed when she took off the heels Ashley forced her in and threw her hair up in a high ponytail.

"Avery." She smiled friendly when she saw Jason standing at the end of the hallway.

"Hey, Jay." Avery greeted, pulling the strap of her bag on her shoulder irritably, she hated carrying purses and bags.

"Hey, I wanted to catch you before you left." Jason said.

"Yeah, well." She gestured to herself somewhat awkwardly. "I'm here. What's up?"

"Good, good." He said, again vaguely. "You looked pretty out there in the dress."

"Thanks." She said. "It didn't feel like that though."

"Why?" Jason asked, stepping closer to her. She almost took a step back, not feeling comfortable.

"Heels." Her face scrunched up in fake annoyance.

He snorted a laugh, shaking his head. "Are you against all things girly?"

"Only the really annoying ones." She nodded her head seriously.

"So," He began counting on his fingers. "That counts purses, heels, shopping, pink-"

"Okay! I get it." She explained loudly. "I'm a terrible person."

"I was just kidding." Jason smiled widely.

Avery allowed a small grin, chuckling. "I know. Hey, look. No offence but I really need to go back. Dean's waiting for me."

He nodded, she began walking but was stopped by him calling her name. "What exactly are you and Dean?"

"I love him and he loves me." She said before walking away, leaving Jason standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Ready?" Dean was waiting for her outside, she pecked him on the lips and got in the car.

 **Thanks a lot for you all who waited for me. I know it's been forever since I updated and I'm super sorry, life has been repeatedly kicking me in the ass for the last few months and I couldn't write for a while. So...thanks for following me or favoring the story or reviewing. Please tell me what you thought, I would love to hear your opinions!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Another update! I felt guilty for not updating for so long so I wrote this, and I'm going to turn the system around, so instead of updating every Thursday or Friday, it's going to be every time I finish the chapter. Hope you like this! and please tell me what you think.**

Chapter Ten

" _Alison?" Avery knocked on her bedroom door. "You called you?"_

 _The door opened, revealing the golden haired girl, she smiled widely at Avery before gesturing for her to enter. "I need your help with something."_

" _Boy advice?" Avery asked as she stood inside._

" _Kinda," Alison walked to her closet and got out a handful of shirts and dresses and dropped them on the bed before going back for jeans and skirts._

" _Okay." Alison breathed. "I'm meeting a boy-"_

" _Who's he?" Avery drawled in a teasing tone._

" _And I can't decide what to wear." She ignored Avery's question. "Now my favorites are-" She pointed at two dresses then at a pair of dark ripped jeans and a crop top._

" _You have it figured out then." Avery threw the top at Alison._

" _No." Alison said slowly. "I still need to pick out shoes and jewelry and makeup-" When she saw Avery still wasn't wavering. "Pretty please?" She batted her lashes._

 _Avery sighed. "Sit down." She instructed. Alison smirked and sat in the chair in front of her vanity and played with a strand of her hair while she watched Avery pick out one of the pairs of jeans and a shirt._

" _I'm leaning towards purple." Alison told her, she watched the older girl as she shifted through her closet from the corner of her eye._

" _Fuck." Avery swore when she dropped a pair of black heels on her foot._

" _You kiss Dean with that mouth?" Alison teased. Avery set the heels down and made her way out of the door, not putting up with the usual Ali crap._

" _Avery," Alison called, getting up from her chair and followed the older girl downstairs._

 _Avery came down the stairs, ready to leave the Dilaurentis house, she bumped into Jason on the way, whose hand shot out to prevent her from falling face forward._

" _Whoa," Jason steadies her. "What's wrong?"_

" _Nothing." She shrugged it off. "I gotta run."_

" _Avery," Alison came down the stairs. "Don't be so sensitive."_

" _Alison." Avery spoke. "I'm not one of your preteens followers. You can't order me around. I'm not Aria or Emily or the rest of them. Okay?" Her voice was clear, for once Ali was silent as she listened. "I'm older, so if even for a second you think you have some kind of superiority over me, then you're wrong." She looked at Jason. "Bye, Jason."_

" _What did you say to her?" Jason asked his sister when Avery shut the front door._

" _Does it matter?" Alison crossed her arms. "Go back to pining after her. We all know how good that's working for you."_

Avery opened the door when she heard frantic knocking. Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer spilled in, anxious and halfway hopeful expressions on their faces.

"What?" Avery asked, she saw their eyes travel down her clothes; one of Dean's hoodies and shorts that were barely visible from the long hoodie, her hair was down and a little bit messy.

Spencer shut the door quietly, her eyes darting around the room as to see if anyone else was with them.

"Are you alone?" Aria questioned.

"Dean's here." Avery pointed to the hallway where her bedroom and bathroom were. "He's in the shower."

"Ali's alive." Aria blurted.

Avery's eyes widened. "What?"

"We talked to her." Emily said. "On the phone. She's a on the run."

"When did this happen?" Avery rubbed the spot on the side of her head that always seemed to ache when she was stressed.

"After the show. We-" The girls went on telling everything that happened, including Spencer and the bones.

"Okay." Avery breathed after they finished. "So what now?"

"We don't know." Hanna said.

"Okay." Avery repeated, she turned around herself before taking a deep breath and gestured to Spencer, who had been silent. "Sweetheart," She opened her arms to her, Spencer hugged her without hesitation, seeking comfort from the older girl who always looked out for them.

"Do you want some tea or something to help you calm down?"

Spencer exchanged a look with Aria, who shook her head in agreement.

"Is it okay if we don't stay?" Aria asked. "Our parents are probably worried about us. And Hanna's-"

"It's completely fine." Avery said. "Just get back to me. Okay?"

The four girls nodded and averted their eyes behind her, she turned and watched as Dean came out, with only wearing a towel hanging low on his waist.

"Aves, where's the-" He stopped when he saw the rest. "Hey." He greeted cautiously.

Aria's face scrunched up in disgust when she saw her sister checking him out, she looked at the others for help only to see them eyeing his muscles.

"I'm Hanna." The blonde stepped up first, holding a hand to him, he shook it back, the other holding the towel.

"Dean," He said.

"I'm Emily." She said but she didn't shake his hand as his body still dripped with water. He looked at Avery again.

"Where did you say my clothes were again?" He asked.

"In front of the closet." Avery replied. Dean nodded and smiled at the girls before leaving the room to get his clothes.

"So you talked to her, where is she?" She asked the four girls.

"Philly." Hanna answered. "We have to go there fast. Paige sent a tip to the police that Alison's alive."

"It's fine. You can go." Avery saw their fidgety movements and the repeated glances to the door. "Call me so I make sure you're all safe?"

"Definitely." Aria said, quickly leaning in for a brief hug, and before Avery could return the action, she pulled away and returned to standing with her friends.

"I'll see you soon." She said. "And if all works out. With Alison and unharmed." There was a string of mumbles of agreement then goodbye and the teenagers spilled out of the door one by one. Avery sighed as she closed it behind them and walked back to her bedroom, where Dean was just putting a shirt on.

"That's a shame." She leaned against the doorway, though her words didn't have the usual lust they held when she saw her boyfriend shirtless.

"What was that?" Dean questioned, referring to the strange meeting with the girls.

"If I told you; You might get in trouble." She said.

"What kind of trouble?" He asked.

"The kind with the police." She winced when she saw the look on his face. "Just listen first. Okay?" She waited until he nodded to continue.

"The girls are going on a road trip to Philly to get Alison." She explained, his eyes widened at the news, she herself was still shocked to the core. "Half knowing them, they haven't told anyone else, including their parents. So by tomorrow they'll be looking for them and-" She sat at the edge of the bed, sighing in relief when Dean seated himself next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder for comfort. "Obviously I won't tell on them."

"I won't either." He said quickly, looking her straight in the eye.

"It's okay. I trust you." She rested her head on his chest because of their height difference. She heaved a big breath. "I can't believe it."

"Alison's alive." He said as a statement, his eyes gazing to the ceiling.

"I mean until we hear the full story and see her for real, I don't think I'll let myself be hopeful." She said. "All that time on the run must have been terrible for her. And she's so young-"

"You were her age when A started threatening you." Dean spoke. She pulled away from his hold to meet his eyes.

"She had it much worse than me. I only got threats about exposing my secrets. She got _death_ threats."

"Don't you see how messed up that is?" He burst out.

"Dean-"

"What kind of sick person would do that to a bunch of teenagers?" He asked rhetorically. "What did you even do to deserve that?"

"I started getting the notes the same time Ali did." Avery said, her eyes unreadable.

"No, I mean what happened right before that?" He said. "An event, an accident. Anything."

"Nothing really." She said. "I was on drugs at that time."

"Half of the school was doing drugs at that time. Why did A target _you_?" He pressed on 'you'.

"Because of my connection to Alison." She answered easily.

"It can't be just that." Dean's tone was slightly frustrated, as if he was about to understand something but couldn't. "Something that stands out." He said. "Maybe not, what happened in that week?" Avery bit her bottom, thinking over the question. She couldn't remember that week, it was insignificant as any other week in her high school years. She remembered shopping with Alison for her date with Dean, maybe family night. Alison and Spencer had asked her to come to their sleepover in Ali's house for makeovers. She vaguely remembered going to a party. That was as stretched as her memory got. She could recall the week Alison went missing but not any other week.

"I think I was too drunk to be aware of anything really." Avery swallowed hard. She did remember one thing about that week. "But I do remember one thing."

Dean nodded so she could keep going. "There's this night...it's completely gone from my memory."

"What do you mean by 'completely gone'?" he questioned.

"I mean there's a whole day I can't remember." Avery looked down and shook her head. "I don't remember waking up, talking with you. I don't even know if we hung out that day. All I know is that I woke at the middle of the night with one of the worst headaches ever and a hundred messages from Angela and Lori," she wanted to close her eyes when she thought about her old friends.

"And my Mom wouldn't talk to me for days." she continued with difficulty, Dean's arm tightened in protectively around her, bringing her comfort. "Even now, she refuses to talk about it." she chuckled bitterly. "I don't even know what I did."

"It's okay," Dean let go of her and kneeled down in front of her, taking both of her hands in his and bringing them up to kiss her knuckles. "I know you didn't do anything. Okay?"

"How can you possibly know that?" her voice cracked.

"Because _I_ know you." he sounded so reassuring, so steady and strong and sure that she didn't anything wrong, and God, it almost hurt how much she loved him at that moment.

Dean then leaned up and wiped a fallen tear from her cheek softly. "Now," he spoke lightly. "What time is it? I have a surprise for you tomorrow."

"What is it?" she realized he was trying to get her to smile, and it was working.

"A surprise, you're gonna have to wait until tomorrow." he said. "But I promise you'll love it."

Avery bit her bottom lip, thinking for a moment. "What's special about tomorrow? It's just-" she glanced up at her alarm clock on her nightstand. "My birthday." she breathed. "Oh my God, I forgot it's my birthday."

"It's..understandable." Dean told her gently. "But anyway, I have plans."

"Don't tell me it's a surprise party." her face almost broke into a grin. "Please, no."

"It's not a surprise party." he said. "I know how you feel about those. It's something for just the two of us."

One thing she always loved about Dean; it's that he was like her, she never liked crowds and preferred silence over noise. Usually, on her birthday, he would take her to her favourite ice cream parlor, then drive up to the woods, where there was a spot looking over the entire town. Quiet and peaceful. Perfect.

"Now, come here." Dean broke her out of her trance. He stood up and held out his hand, pulling her up along with him. "I don't think I'm ready to go to sleep yet."

"Me neither." Avery agreed softly, she was afraid if she closed her eyes; she'll miss something important; a phone call from her sister or one of her friends. She didn't even want to think what she would do if Alison came home.

Dean left the room, mumbling that he'll go get his laptop, then came back after less than a minute and a half. She let him pull her to the center of the bed, sighing in content when he situated her between his legs, her head resting on his warm chest.

Avery took the laptop and placed it on her knees so the two of them could watch the screen comfortably. "What do you wanna watch?"

"You pick." Dean didn't even glance up, he was nuzzling his head in her neck, his nose buried in her hair. She shivered when his tongue peeked out to lick a bold stripe along her skin, and he chuckled when he felt her reaction.

They waited a few more minutes while the film loaded; Dean busied himself by trailing kisses along Avery's neck, then they moved to general kissing.

'Casablanca' started playing. "We used to watch that all the time." Dean commented.

"Yeah," she responded. "You made me see it the first time but after-"

"You couldn't stop replaying it every night." he completed for her, she looked up to him, a grin on her lips. "God," he breathed. "Why is it that every thing you do makes me fall in love with you all over again?"

She swallowed at his words and gently set the laptop aside, moving so she could straddle her boyfriend's lap. "Between us," she cupped the back of his neck. "you're the better person."

"That's impossible." he denied immediately, shaking his head as though the mere idea itself was beyond ridiculous.

"When you think about it, I'm the one who left you-"

"Don't." he stopped her firmly. "Kitten, if you even finish that sentence-" he closed his dark eyes. "I love you, okay? That's what matters."

"I love you too." she whispered softly, then shyly leaned up to kiss his lips lightly, she felt his lips break into a smile but he let her control the pace of the kiss. "Hey," she murmured. "We're living together."

"I guess we are." he smirked. "Just like we planned."

"I doubt this comes close to the New York penthouse we had our eyes on."

"First of all, it was a Brooklyn studio apartment," he said. "And second, I'll get it for you the moment we leave this town."

"Seriously?" Avery's eyebrows rose. "You really mean that?"

"Cross my heart and hope to-" she cut him by kissing him, distractedly closing the laptop and pushing it to the far edge of the bed. She giggled when he flipped them over. That night, he kept whispering promises of a better life to her. Everything they had ever stayed up at night to imagine.


End file.
